The Sacramento Kings will be without star player Domantas Sabonis for at least 10 days after he sustained a moderate sprain to his right ankle. Sabonis was injured during the third quarter of the Kings’ 132-122 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, also suffering a cut to his left eye after going head to head with Luke Kennard. An MRI confirmed the sprain, and the Kings plan to reevaluate Sabonis in 10 days. Monk stated, “I’m always concerned when my teammate’s not on the court, I really didn’t see the play until I looked up. It looked pretty bad. But Doman is strong. He’ll probably be back sooner than we think,” he told reporters. This injury follows his recent return from a left hamstring issue that caused him to miss five games earlier in March. Sacramento is 3-6 this season without him in the lineup.
Sabonis, who is leading the NBA with an impressive 13.9 rebounds per game, has also been averaging 19.2 points and 6.2 assists. With his absence, Jonas Valanciunas is expected to step into the starting lineup. While Sabonis is in recovery, the Kings have signed forward Terry Taylor to a 10-day contract, who has been performing well in the G League.
Currently holding a 34-33 record, Sacramento sits in ninth place in the Western Conference, two games ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. They will kick off a six-game homestand on 3/19, but the schedule will conclude with six of their last nine games on the road as they aim to remain competitive in the Play-In Tournament race.
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