NEW YORK — The Sacramento Kings left home on a high note and are feeling even better after their first stop on the road.
De’Aaron Fox scored 24 points, Buddy Hield had 22 and the Kings routed the New York Knicks 113-92 on Sunday night for their second straight victory following a 0-5 start.
Harrison Barnes added 19 points and Richaun Holmes finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings, who brought the momentum from their 102-101 home victory over Utah on Friday east and ran away from the Knicks.
"It’s kind of important to come out with a good start, especially flying across the country," Kings coach Luke Walton said. "I was very happy with our guys’ effort level, performance level."
Sacramento led by as many as 32 points in a surprisingly simple start to a three-game road trip. Nemanja Bjelica chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and the Kings limited the Knicks to 38% shooting.
"I think it was our defence," Fox said. "I think obviously you have to put the ball in the basket, but the way we’ve performed I think the last three or four games have been fantastic."
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Marcus Morris scored 28 points for the Knicks, who dropped their third straight and fell to 1-6. Rookie RJ Barrett had 22 points.
"I really expected us to take a step forward tonight, but we didn’t," Knicks coach David Fizdale said.
Sacramento led by nine after one quarter, then opened the second with an 11-0 run to build a 43-23 lead on Bogdan Bogdanovic’s 3-pointer with 7:34 remaining in the half. New York didn’t score until more than five minutes had elapsed in the period, and after clawing back within 12 later in the quarter, promptly gave up the next nine points as the Kings pushed the lead to 55-34.
"You don’t want that type of result or effort coming in after we had two extremely hard-fought games on the road that we gave ourselves a chance to win," forward Julius Randle said. "Tonight we came in and we didn’t give ourselves a chance at all."
A 61-41 halftime lead quickly was expanded to 76-44 on Fox’s jumper, and boos broke out during a third quarter that ended with Sacramento ahead 90-64.
TIP-INS
Kings: Luke Walton’s pregame interview with reporters was attended by a couple special guests. His father Bill, a Hall of Fame player, stood in the back along with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Both wore Kings sweatshirts. "In the NBA season you’re on the road a lot, so any time you can have family and friends around, it’s a nice mini break," Luke Walton said. "But they know and we know we’re here for business. We’re here to try to get better as a team and try to win a game." … The Kings have won the last four meetings.
Knicks: Second-round pick Ignas Brazdeikis made his NBA debut in the fourth quarter. He scored four points. … Fizdale changed up his starting lineup, inserting Bobby Portis at centre in place of Mitchell Robinson. Portis scored two points. Robinson had 10. … The Knicks remained short-handed in the backcourt, with point guards Elfrid Payton (strained right hamstring) and Dennis Smith Jr. (personal reasons) still out.
FATHER KNOWS BEST
Though Bill Walton has been a popular TV broadcaster and is known for his loquaciousness, he picks and chooses his spots when it comes to talking to his son about the game.
"My dad’s been great my whole basketball career, whether I was a player or now into coaching," Luke Walton said. "He offers advice when I want it and he knows when to leave me alone. So he’s a great person to be able to talk to and communicate about the game, what he sees, but he also knows that this is my job and I’m doing it. So, when and when not to put his voice in there."
ROUGH FOR RANDLE
Randle was limited to eight points and seven rebounds on 4-for-13 shooting. He has been in single digits in scoring the last two games after opening the season with five straight double-doubles.
UP NEXT
Kings: Visit Toronto on Wednesday.
Knicks: Visit Detroit on Wednesday.
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