Former Big Man Gets Knicks Revenge in Season-High Game

Last night’s game in Sacramento was supposed to be a welcome back party for New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown, who coached the Kings for two and a half mostly solid seasons until he was unceremoniously canned last December. Instead, it became the Precious Achiuwa revenge game.

The former Knick scored ten first quarter points, recorded his third double-double of the year and flirted with his career high of 27 points in the 112-101 Sacramento victory. Achiuwa scored a season high 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and recorded 2 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 3’s. It was only the ninth time in his career that he’s reached the twenty-point plateau and first since last February while with the Knicks.

Achiuwa, who considers himself a native New Yorker after moving to the Bronx from Nigeria in the eighth grade, played with some extra bounce against his old squad who let him walk in free agency. It really shouldn’t of come as much a surprise with the 26-year old telling reporters before the game how excited he was to battle his old friends and the ongoing trash talk in the group chat.

“I can’t wait to go up against all of them. It’s going to be fun," Achiuwa said at shoot-around, per KCRA News' Sean Cunningham. "I’m going to be doing a lot of talking back and fourth so I’m looking forward to it. It kind of already started last night over text.”

Achiuwa Played His Best Game Of The Season Against His Old Team

Over the summer, the Knicks brought in Guerschon Yabusele to fill Achiuwa's role. He signed for two years, $11 million, with the second season being a player option. The Frenchmen, who is averaging 3.2 points in 9.8 minutes, has largely disappointed and is being actively shopped ahead of the trade deadline. He checked in during the final seconds of the game last night and immediately bricked two wide open 3’s.

Jan 14, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and Sacramento Kings forward Precious Achiuwa (9) fight for a rebound during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

After coming over as a spare part in the OG Anunoby for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley blockbuster, Achiuwa bounced in and out of the rotation during his year and a half stay. The undersized forward is not quite the conventional shot blocker Tom Thibodeau prefers in the middle of his defense and he was caught in between positions – too small to be a big minutes center and lacking a consistent jumper to be a prototypical modern day power-forward.

Upon first arriving, Achiuwa filled in admirably with the Knicks decimated by injuries to Anunoby, Isaiah Hartenstein and Julius Randle. Following the season-ending shoulder injury to Randle, Achiuwa logged heavy minutes, accentuated by a 17-game run where he averaged 12.7 points and 9.8 rebounds in 37 minutes. His playing time dwindled as the team returned to near-full health, playing a combined ten minutes in the first three games of New York’s opening round series against Philadelphia.

Achiuwa Played Like More Than Just A Throw In

Then came the ever-pivotal Game 4 and Achiuwa’s defining moment as a Knick. With Mitchell Robinson re-aggravating his ankle injury and Hartenstein in foul trouble, "The Big Sneeze" was dusted off to guard Joel Embiid, who only has four inches and 55 pounds on the six-foot-eight forward. He made two of the most important defensive plays of the game - blocking an Embiid 3-pointer and stopping him at the rim in the final minute- and held the reigning MVP to one fourth quarter point.

The Knicks re-signed Achiuwa to a one year, $6 million deal using his Bird rights. He started the season on the shelf due to a preseason hamstring injury, making his season debut on Dec. 5. In 57 games, he averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes. The stretchy swingman played in just eight of the team’s 18 playoff games, totaling 34 minutes of mostly garbage time action.

In the off-season, the six-year veteran signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Miami Heat, who originally drafted him with the 20th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, but waived him following the pre-season finale. The front court needy Kings signed Achiuwa two weeks into the season on a veteran minimum deal and he’s chipping in quality minutes for coach Doug Christie.

Last night, he made sure to put a dagger in his former teammates hearts and show the Knicks what they’re missing out on.

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