Sacramento will be without Domantas Sabonis for Wednesday’s showdown.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be on the second night of a back-to-back when they take on the Sacramento King. The Kings weren’t in action on Tuesday, but they will be without one of their best players as forward Domantas Sabonis (right ankle sprain) has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game.
Sabonis had a rough game on Monday in Sacramento’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He left the first half with an injury above his eye that required stitches. When he returned in the second, he sprained his ankle. The ankle injury is what will keep him from suiting up against Cleveland.
It has been a weird year for Sacramento. They traded away one of their best players, De’Aaron Fox, and fired former head coach Mike Brown after a poor start. Sabonis has been one of the few constants for the Kings this season.
Sabonis is averaging 19.2 points on .593/.425/.748 shooting splits go along with 13.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Considering those numbers, it’s unsurprising that Sacramento has played their best basketball with him on the floor. They’re 3-6 in games he hasn’t been able to play this season and are 9.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than they are when he’s not (92nd percentile).
The Kings will likely turn to Jonas Valanciunas as the starting center with Sabonis unable to go. This will likely also force rookie center Isaac Jones into action.
We’ll see if the Cavs will be able to attack Sacramento’s lack of depth inside with Sabonis sidelined.