Royal Comeback! New York Knicks Back In Win Column After Dethroning Kings

The New York Knicks erased a 21-point deficit to end a three-game losing against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

Apr 4, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) controls the ball against / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

With superfan Larry David in the building, the New York Knicks couldn't have picked a better time for a pretty, pretty, pretty good performance against the Sacramento Kings.

A dominant final period rendered a slow start long forgotten, as the Knicks recovered from the dire news of Julius Randle's departure to earn a 120-109 victory on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. New York erased a 21-point deficit endured in the first half by the end of the third quarter to set the stage for the severing of a three-game losing streak.

As expected, Jalen Brunson played a role in the end with a 35-point, 11-assist double-double while Josh Hart accompanied tallies of nine rebounds and eight assists with a season-best 31 points. Isaiah Hartenstein also dished out 10 assists as part of a helping team-wide output of 34 on 44 successful field goals.

Apr 4, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots a three point / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

A sweep of Sacramento, earned hours after it was revealed that the three-time All-Star Randle would miss the rest of the season for surgery to repair his dislocated shoulder, allowed the Knicks (45-31) to move back into a fourth-place tie with the Orlando Magic on the Eastern Conference leaderboard.

The shock of the Randle reveal seemed to stick with the Knicks in the opening period, as Sacramento opened up a 15-point lead after the first dozen behind a dominant shooting effort that saw them sink over 66 percent from the field. Their lead bloomed to as high as 21 in the second, though a 27-14 run over the final eight-plus minutes offered a hint of what was to come. Brunson was responsible for nearly half the Knicks' points in that span, earning 13 on 4-of-6.

New York managed to tie the game by the end of the third, offering echos of their latest loss: the Knicks came back from a prior deficit in Miami on Tuesday but could never get over the hump of a tie. Though the Kings got the scoring in the fourth quarter, they emphatically proved that it wouldn't be a problem this time around.

After a De'Aaron Fox triple put the Kings ahead by three just over two minutes in, the Knicks posted a lucky 13 by scoring that many unanswered points to permanently sway momentum in their favor. Between points and assists, Jalen Bruson had a role on every tally, including the go-ahead jumper that produced a successful and-one to give the Knicks an eternal lead. Sacramento (44-32) never got closer than eight after that, giving the Knicks the ability to coast toward another victory in their final regular season showdown against Western Conference competition this season.

With their loss, the Kings missed out on a chance to wrap up at least a Play-In spot on the Western Conference bracket and now it a game behind Phoenix for the sixth and final automatic seed. Fox led the team with 29 points but struggled to maintain the speedy start he had in the opening period, hitting only 7-of-20 after starting 4-of-6.

There's no time for the Knicks to savor this one, as they're immediately back in action against the Chicago Bulls in the opener of a four-game road trip (8 p.m. ET, MSG).