After building some momentum with a back-to-back sweep of two conference opponents over the weekend, the New York Knicks were met with a dose of harsh reality on their home floor Tuesday night.

New York just couldn’t find its rhythm or moxie and were hammered by the Sacramento Kings from start to finish in a 124-86 to the Sacramento Kings. The loss was certainly a disappointment after the Knicks had played so well in knocking off two tough Eastern Conference opponents—but head coach Derek Fisher was left most disheartened at how his team played in the defeat.

“It was definitely not the level of character and integrity this team has been showing in recent weeks,” Derek said. “Even in some losses we’ve had, we’ve had more character and grit as a group, and that was the most disappointing part.”

The Kings led from wire-to-wire, holding as much as a 44-point cushion at Madison Square Garden. It all started with some poorly-timed early fouls by the Knicks, which set the stage for a big first quarter for Sacramento. Behind 12 points from DeMarcus Cousins and a 12-of-13 quarter at the strip, the Kings established a 35-19 lead after one.

“They came out really aggressive,” D-Fish explained. “They’re playing at a much faster pace since George Karl took over. DeMarcus Cousins is obviously a good player. I think we had three fouls in the first minute and three seconds of the first quarter, and that destined us for a bad quarter. When the road team puts up 35 points in the first quarter, they feel like it’s going to be a great night. We couldn’t really slow them down after that.”

Cousins continued his fantastic year, totaling 22 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Rudy Gay added a game-high 25 points, and four other Kings finished in double figures on the big night for the visitors.

None of the five Knicks starters hit double figures on the night. Tim Hardaway Jr. paced that first unit with just seven points, which forced Derek to look to his bench for some production. He found a few bright spots there, including a 13-point night from Jason Smith, as well as a 13-point, six-assist effort from Shane Larkin.

“In adversity, that’s when you find out who you really are,” Fish said. “No matter what’s going on the rest of the season, we have a lot of guys who we’re finding out what they’re capable of doing—when it’s good and when it’s bad. Specifically tonight, Shane Larkin responded with a certain level of grit and toughness you really want to see in a difficult situation like tonight.”

Another shining light for the Knicks lately has been their newest addition, Alexey Shved. The 6’6” Russian guard continued his string of consecutive games scoring in double figures since joining N.Y. at the trade deadline. After Shved tallied a team-high 15 points — his fourth straight double-digit scoring effort — with seven rebounds, three assists and 7-of-9 shooting from the charity stripe, Derek once again referenced the versatility the newcomer brings to New York.

“Alexey is just continuing to find an identity and a role within our team,” Derek said. “He’s showing some ability to do some things: handling the ball, making passes, making plays. He has good size as a guard, which in turn, seven rebounds and being able to get to the free throw line. We just have to continue to commit ourselves to help him getting more comfortable everyday, because we might have to rely on him even more.”

The Knicks, of course, will have to rely on players like Shved because of their youth, particularly in the absence of Jose Calderon at the guard position. New York started two rookies and one second-year player Tuesday night, and that lack of experience often results in inconsistency, as they showed against the Kings.

After the loss, Fish talked about that dynamic, his search for players who can perform at a professional level night in and night out, and how only time and experience will remedy some of the Knicks’ issues.

“We have some guys who have no idea what this is like, to be expected to perform at a certain level every night, and to have to in order for your team to have a chance to win,” Coach Fish said. “It’s easy to be kind of envious and jealous of starters and franchise guys, but then when you’re actually in that position, you see how tough that really is.”

NEXT UP

The next test for the young Knicks (12-47) comes quickly. They’ll immediately hit the road for a meeting with the Indiana Pacers (25-34) Wednesday night.

Wednesday’s game will be the second of four meetings between the two Eastern Conference rivals this season, and kicks off a home-and-home set with Indiana for New York. For the Knicks, the games will broken up by a few days of rest and preparation at home before they return to the Madison Square Garden parquet on Saturday. Indiana, meanwhile, will have a date with the Chicago Bulls at home on Friday before heading to New York.

Indy has been fighting to find its way without superstar forward Paul George this season, and they have played very well of late, winners of eight of their last 11. Their only losses in that stretch have come against Western Conference playoff contenders, the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers enter Wednesday night’s game riding a two-game winning streak after topping the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers. They currently sit in 10th place in the East, just half a game off the eighth seed.

The Knicks dropped the first meeting between the two teams this season, 103-82 just before the New Year.

Tipoff of the rematch is set for 7 p.m. ET from Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the game can be seen on MSG.

RELATED LINKS

• Fisher on Knicks’ Loss: We Couldn’t Slow Kings Down (MSG, March 3, 2015)
• Rudy Gay, Kings hand Knicks worst loss of season (AP, March 3, 2015)
• Kings at Knicks: Game Book (NBA.com, March 3, 2015)
• Knicks need to be patient with Fisher (ESPN NY, March 3, 2015)
• Fisher questions integrity (NY Post, March 3, 2015)
• Garden fans chant for Tom Hanks (NY Daily News, March 3, 2015)