Interim Kings coach Doug Christie said his team’s performance was unacceptable. Jonas Valanciunas called it embarrassing. Malik Monk said the Kings got punked on their home court.

The Kings offered no excuses after suffering a 133-104 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday before a crowd of 16,539 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

The game started with an enthusiastic crowd waving white rally towels while driving up the decibels for an NBA TV audience. By the time it was over, most Kings fans were long gone after heading for the exits at the start of the fourth quarter.

“We can look for excuses,” Valanciunas said. “We can look for reasons, but it’s on us. It’s on us tonight. It was embarrassing. We didn’t come out with the energy. We didn’t play our game, so we’ve got to be better. Simple as that. I know it’s not easy to do, but we have to find our energy, find our style of play and be better.”

The Kings fell to 4-8 on the second night of back-to-backs after suffering a 111-110 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday in Inglewood. Malik Monk returned to the starting lineup after missing three games with a sprained toe, but All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis was still out with a strained left hamstring.

“There are absolutely no excuses in this league,” Christie said. “The league does not care about back-to-backs, injuries, nothing. That was brutal from the physicality standpoint. They didn’t feel us at all, and our guys know that is totally unacceptable whoever is out on the floor. It doesn’t matter.”

The outcome was detrimental to Sacramento’s position in the play-in race while dealing another blow to the team’s hopes of securing an automatic playoff berth as one of the top six teams in the Western Conference.

The Kings stayed at ninth in the West, but with 18 games remaining they fell 3 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors going into Thursday’s game at Chase Center in San Francisco. The Kings are three games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for seventh, two games behind the Clippers for eighth and one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for 10th.

“This is a tough race in the West right now, so a loss like this can either turn the season around or go downhill,” Monk said. “I feel we’re going to turn it around with this.”

Karl-Anthony Towns posted 26 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks (41-23), who snapped a three-game losing streak. OG Anunoby had 24 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Miles McBride scored 21 points and Josh Hart added 18.

Monk scored 21 points for the Kings (33-31), who have lost three of four after winning four in a row and seven of nine. Zach LaVine scored 17 points while committing five of Sacramento’s 18 turnovers. DeMar DeRozan was held to 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Valanciunas recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The Knicks shot 53.6% from the field and 55% from 3-point range. The Kings hit 41.9% overall and 29.4% from beyond the arc.

New York outscored Sacramento 26-6 in fastbreak points.

“I thought all around, our defense was very good, rebounding very good, sharing the ball, taking care of the ball,” Knicks coach Tom Thibobeau said. “I think those things were key for us. Good defensive activity, 13 steals, and then getting into the open floor, getting those easy baskets.”