Mike Brown calls out Karl-Anthony Towns for a lazy play in the Knicks loss

SACRAMENTO — Mike Brown called Karl-Anthony Towns for a lazy play.

With less than two minutes left in the second quarter of the Knicks’ 112-101 loss to the Kings on Wednesday night, Towns drove and fell after being stripped in the paint by Precious Achiuwa.

The Knicks center stayed on the ground instead of running back to the defense, allowing Achiuwa to grab an uncontested offensive rebound around midfield.

The series ended when Sacramento’s Russell Westbrook nailed a 3-pointer in the wide-open corner, giving the Kings a 17-point lead.

“He was driving. Something happened where he fell. He was driving, he fell,” Brown said. “If you fall, you have to get up and sprint across the floor. And even if you’re the last man on the floor, you have to get there in case there’s a long rebound. But there was no urgency. That wasn’t the only play. There were a handful of plays where we did that. But there was no sense of urgency on that particular play to get back. And it was a five-point swing.”

“If he at least hits the ground, a long rebound, he gets it because he’s behind the play. We were watching the play at halftime and he didn’t even get half court. That sums up what our night was.”

The Knicks shot a paltry 20% on three-pointers. But the locker room almost unanimously placed the blame elsewhere: the defense was the problem.

“The offense is secondary to how bad our defense was,” Josh Hart said. “What did I give up, 40 free throws? Undisciplined. I didn’t stick to the game plan. It was a shame. Today I really don’t care about the offense. Defensively, we have to figure it out.”

The Kings (11-30), a lottery team, had four starters score at least 18 points.

Brown did not rule out Mitchell Robinson playing in his first back-to-back of the season.

Robinson, who is managing his surgically repaired ankle, logged 19 minutes in the defeat.

The Knicks are in Golden State on Thursday night.

“I’m not sure this will ultimately be the medical team’s choice,” Brown said. “As we’ve gone along, his minutes have increased and he’s been able to do more things in practice on their eyes. So whatever they tell us (Thursday night), we’ll listen to it.”