Julius Randle was in the locker room, given an early shower by the officials for his third quarter outburst. Jalen Brunson was getting his right ankle examined after his second bad fall of the game. 

It was crunch time, the Knicks didn’t have the services of their two best players and it didn’t matter. They’re winning with defense these days, and that defense was more than enough to extend their season-long winning streak to four (all by double figures) Sunday night with a commanding 112-99 victory over the improved Kings. 

“I feel like right now we’re clicking on offense and defense for sure,” Quentin Grimes, one of the keys to this recent defensive turnaround, said after the Knicks’ third straight home win. 

Coach Tom Thibodeau closed with RJ Barrett at power forward, and suddenly invaluable young guards Grimes and Miles McBride in the backcourt. Sacramento never challenged that lineup as the Knicks, who have held their last four opponents to 30 of 136 (22 percent) shooting from 3-point range, cruised to another easy win. 

Three of those foes have failed to reach 100 points. This streak began after an ugly home loss to the Mavericks just eight days ago, the Knicks allowing 24 made 3-pointers in the 21-point loss. They were in 11th place in the Eastern Conference then, and are now tied for sixth after moving to 14-13. 

“A lot of energy here, a lot of laughing,” was how Grimes described the mood in the locker room. 

The Kings entered the game fifth in the league in offensive rating, but struggled against the Knicks’ revitalized defense, shooting just 39 percent from the field and committing 16 turnovers. They were without standout point guard De’Aaron Fox (foot). Domantas Sabonis led Sacramento (14-11) with 20 points and 12 rebounds. 

“The energy, the communication, it just feels like everybody’s on the same page,” said Mitchell Robinson, a two-way force in the paint with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. 

Before he was ejected late in the third quarter, Randle was having a field day, pouring in 27 points along with eight rebounds and three assists. Brunson, who left the game with 9:03 left with what Thibodeau called a sprained right ankle, had 18 points. Barrett scored 27 points — nine after Randle’s ejection — and added nine rebounds and a season-high six assists. 

Randle was ejected after picking up consecutive technical fouls. Feeling he was fouled on back-to-back plays without getting a call, Randle went after two different officials, and was ejected after refusing to let it go. There was 3:35 left in the third quarter at the time, and the Knicks up 15. 

“It’s an emotional game,” Thibodeau said. “When he got the first tech, we have to do a better job of helping him walk away.” 

The ejection didn’t faze the Knicks. They rattled off eight straight points after the technical free throws to go up 21 and the Kings never really threatened. The closest they got was 12, in the final minutes with the result well in hand. The young Knicks had an answer every time it seemed Sacramento was ready to build momentum. 

“More guys stepped up tonight and played some big minutes,” said Barrett, who equaled a season high with 44 minutes. “It was good to see that.” 

It was an odd closing lineup, with the 6-foot-6 Barrett at the 4 next to Robinson, Immanuel Quickley, and the two emerging second-year players, Grimes and McBride. It was five players all 24 years of age or younger, and they didn’t show their youth instead finishing the victory without much of a sweat. 

“It shows the trust Thibs’ has in us, to put all the young guys in there to close the game,” Grimes said.