Alec Burks’ 21 point night lifts Knicks past Kings

Alec Burks scored a game high 21 points and the New York Knicks defeated the Sacramento Kings, 116-96 last night at the Garden. Burks shot 6-9 from the field including 4-6 from behind the arc, grabbed 5 boards, dished-out 4 assists and finished with a plus- of 25. And he came off the bench.

Evan Fournier led the first unit with 18 points while Julius Randle added 17 buckets and 9 rebounds for the 24th win of the season.

The Knicks were on a 3 game losing streak after playing on the road against conference rivals and as the trade deadline is getting closer, numerous rumors of potential trades were surrounding the team.

Randle, who recently got into a love-hate relationship with the team management and the fans was one of the names that kept popping out in certain discussions. Last night, he was big. He shot 50% from the field an his presence was felt on both ends of the floor.

“It was a good challenge for us and good to observe and see championship habits and caliber teams because that’s what we’re striving for every day. It was good to see that. It motivated us and to get off to a good start on our home court was good.”

– Julius Randle

The Knicks got their first double digit lead of the game late in the first quarter when Mitchell Robinson made a two point shot to make it 23-13 with 4:08 remaining. The Kings never attempted a comeback and the Knicks increased their lead 46-29 in the second quarter. By the closing minutes of the game the Knicks were up by as many as 29.

Obi Toppin and Quentin Grimes had 14 points each off the bench. The newest addition, Cam Reddish, didn’t get to see to much action, playing just the final 5 minutes of the game. He scored 4 points and made one steal.

The Kings were simply unable to defend. With De’Andre Fox sitting with a sore ankle, their big men, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes, were being hammered in the paint. Tyrese Haliburton led them with 21 points and 8 assists. Davion Mitchell added 18 for the losing part.

It was the third time this season the Knicks outscored their opponents by 20 points or more. The last time it happened was a couple of weeks ago, at home against the Mavericks (108-85), and the other time was on the second regular season game when they defeated the Magic in Orlando 121-96.

Up-next: The Knicks (24-27) will host the Memphis Grizzlies (35-18) on Wednesday from 7:30 pm.