Surging Kings blast New York Knicks in Mike Brown's return to Sacramento

Jason Anderson, The Sacramento Bee on Jan 15, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Mike Brown’s return to Sacramento was almost as unceremonious as his departure.

Brown received a warm ovation when he was introduced as the coach of the New York Knicks, but from that point on his team was greeted rather rudely.

DeMar DeRozan had 27 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead the Kings to a 112-101 victory over the Knicks before a crowd of 15,095 on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. DeRozan passed Kevin Garnett for 22nd on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Zach LaVine scored 25 points for the Kings (11-30), who have won three in a row for the first time this season. Precious Achiuwa recorded a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Kings coach Doug Christie said facing Brown for the first time was not a source of motivation for his team.

“We come here to win,” Christie said. “It doesn’t matter who’s over there. We’re just here to compete.”

Mikal Bridges scored 19 points to lead the Knicks (25-15), who have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. OG Anunoby scored 15 points. Karl-Anthony Towns was held to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

Mike Brown’s return

Brown was back in Sacramento for the first time since he was fired last season. He led the original Beam Team to 48 wins and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in 2022-23, helping Sacramento end the longest playoff drought in NBA history after 16 consecutive losing seasons.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2023 and compiled a 107-88 record in two-plus seasons before he was dismissed after going 13-17 to start the 2024-25 season.

“Our business, like most businesses, they’re tricky, and people look at results a certain way,” Brown said.

“For me, no matter what job I had, when I got fired, if I got fired, I’ve always been appreciative of the opportunity. … Every opportunity you get as an individual, you try to embrace it and you try to do the best you can. Sometimes it may not be good enough. Sometimes it may be out of your control, but then you move on to the next step.”

Halftime report

The Kings took control on both ends of the floor in the opening period, scoring with ease and efficiency while playing stifling defense against the Knicks. Sacramento opened up an early 10-point advantage and led 32-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The Kings went 12 of 19 (.632) from the field in the first period while the Knicks went 8 of 23 (.348). Three players scored in double figures for Sacramento with LaVine, DeRozan and Achiuwa scoring 10 points apiece.

The score added insult to injury for the Knicks after star guard Jalen Brunson limped back to the locker room with 7:01 to play in the first quarter. The Knicks later announced Brunson would not return due to a right ankle injury.

The Kings went up by 20 on a breakaway dunk by Malik Monk early in the second quarter. They led 56-42 at the halftime break.

Sacramento shot 54.3% in the first half while holding New York to 34%. The Kings made 5 of 14 (.357) from 3-point range while the Knicks went a ghastly 1 of 19 (.053).

Second-half summary

The Kings opened the second half with a 7-0 run to stretch their lead to 21 points. They went up by 25 after staging a 13-4 run later in the third quarter.

The Knicks cut the deficit to 14 on a basket by Anunoby with 4:31 to go. They got within nine on a basket by Guerschon Yabusele with 48.2 seconds remaining, but by then it was too late.

Up next

The Kings will play host to the Washington Wizards on Friday at Golden 1 Center in the fourth game of their seven-game homestand.

The Wizards (10-28) had lost three in a row going into Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Wizards recently traded CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Atlanta Hawks, but Young is out due to MCL and quadriceps injuries.

________