Injuries Are A Blessing In Disguise For Sacramento Kings

Nemanja Bjelica

Another beneficiary of extended minutes has been Nemanja Bjelica, who has stepped his game up to another level over the last two weeks.

After a rough stretch during Thanksgiving week, he has averaged 16.2 points and 8 rebounds per over the Kings’ last six games. Earlier in the year, he was keeping Sacramento competitive with solid first-quarter scoring outputs and performed well in his initial role filling in for Bagley.

But his most noticeable contributions have come in the last two games.

On Saturday in Dallas, Bjelica scored a career-high 30 points and led the Kings to an unlikely upset victory over Doncic and the Mavericks. He was 13 of 18 from the field for the game, including 4 for 7 from deep. He was also the recipient of a gimme, game-sealing layup on a beautifully designed play by Walton.

The very next day, the Serbian sniper made headlines around the NBA and sports world. He scored a modest 17 points on an equally modest 6 for 14 from the field.

But his game-winning buzzer-beater and subsequent on-air interview were anything but modest.

On yet another superb crunch-time play drawn up by Walton with one second remaining on the clock, Bjelica got free and fired up a 30-footer that hit nothing but net and kept the Kings above water after a rough stretch to start the month. In his interview just moments after the game, Bjelica let off a profanity on live television, a line that would resonate over social media and sports outlets for the entire evening:

"“F*ck it, we deserved this win.”"

Did they ever.

Like Holmes, Bjelica stands to see a reduction in minutes upon Bagley’s return. But he might be the most logical choice to start alongside Bagley. A healthy lineup of Fox, Hield, Harrison Barnes, Bjelica, and Bagley would be one of the best shooting lineups in the league.