Call it a players only meeting, or don’t. 

Whatever it was, the message appears to have gotten through. 

The Knicks have suddenly turned things around following their brutally rough stretch, taking home their third consecutive victory on Monday night over the Sacramento Kings. 

Jalen Brunson was terrific late, but leading the way was the Knicks’ improved defense. 

Things were evened at 72 apiece through three quarters, but then Mike Brown’s shook up lineup turned things up and held Sacramento to just 15 points in the final frame.

Mitchell Robinson stayed in alongside Brunson, Miles McBride, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby to close things out and the move worked tremendously. 

New York’s tenacious defense helped limit the Kings to just 40 percent shooting from the field and 16 percent from three-point land on the night. 

“It was an ugly game, but our defense stayed solid throughout,” Mike Brown said.

“We were able to grind it out and find a way,” Brunson added. 

The Knicks are now averaging just 87.3 points allowed during their brief winning streak, and they’ve held opponents under the triple-digit mark in two of those three games. 

So, what exactly has sparked this drastic turnaround?

Robinson said one of the biggest things has been their communication. 

Brunson, on the other hand, pointed in another direction.

“Our attention to detail, our focus, those are big components,” the captain said. “We have the ability to be a really good team if we do those things, the little things have to be important.” 

For New York to get where they hope this season, they’ll need to keep this up. 

The improved defense will have another very big test right away, as they head to Toronto to face the Raptors in a matchup of two of the Eastern Conference heavyweights in the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday.