The Knicks (27*-18) return to Madison Square Garden tonight as heavy favorites against a weak Kings (12-35) team that defeated New York just two weeks ago.
When the teams met on January 14, coach Mike Brown’s former club won almost wire-to-wire, defeating the Knicks 112–101 behind DeMar DeRozan’s 27 points. DeRozan and Okakuyoke Precious Achiuwa outscored the Kings 32–17 in the first quarter, during which New York lost Jalen Brunson to a right ankle sprain after just five minutes. New York shot brutally, making 8-41 from three. Mikal Bridges led the Knicks with 19 points, followed by OG Anunoby (15) and Karl-Anthony Towns (13).
Sacramento comes off a losing streak of five games in a row and nine straight. Detroit shocked everyone on Sunday with a 139-116 loss. The team is a basement team with a -10.19 net rating, ranking 29th offensively (120.6 ORtg) and 28th defensively (130.8 DRtg). The Kings attempt the fewest three-pointers in the league, making 35% of them, but they are a strong midrange team, thanks to DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine. Defensively, they struggled across the board, allowing 49% shooting, 35% from three and allowing 121.2 points per game.
For the visitors, Zach LaVine is questionable with a back soreness, Malik Monk is banged up, and Keegan Murray is out. For the Knicks: The list is clear!
ESPN.com believes in New York! They favor our gang at 86%. Yowza! Certainly, regardless of last game, by the numbers, the Knicks should dominate these guys. what could go wrong? arrogance. In their last two games, New York beat Brooklyn by 50-some points and then survived PA and a winter storm to seal a convincing win with Philly’s best punches. ‘It was reassuring because they had been troubled for a few weeks before that. The last two games showed how much of a rocker the ‘Bockers can be when they go full-tilt boogie.
There may be a temptation to go to the coast tonight, and that may come back to bite our heroes. What’s worse is that some players may make half-baked moves as their names float around in trade rumors. So, if the Knicks aren’t careful. . . Oh come on. The loss in Sacramento was a strange coincidence. Tonight, Jalen Brunson and the boys will jump on the gas pedal and push it to the metal all game long, trying to see if they can actually beat a team 60 score. In the end, the reserves would lose some of the lead in the final quarter, but the home team still wins easily. Nix up to 18.
Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Time: 7:30 pm ET
Location: Madison Square Garden, NYC
TV: MSG
to follow: @ptknicksblog and bsky
*There should be one more, but cup finals don’t count.
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