After losing their second game of a regular season that's only three games deep, the Sacramento Kings are looking for anything positive to take away. As odd as this sounds, the gameplay of Domantas Sabonis was actually good-ish from a defensive point of view.
It's hard to imagine the Kings without Sabonis at this point. They had to play without him in the first game of the regular season, and it didn't go so well. His scoring and rebounding were desperately missed. Both contributions would have helped win the game.
That being said, Domantas was playing against the Lakers, and the Kings still lost. Keeping in mind that he still got a double-double, Domas had a rough night from a scoring perspective. He barely snuck the ten points he needed in on a free throw at the end of the game.
Sabonis makes big plays for the Kings
Where Sabonis showed up for Sacramento was on defense, which seems like an odd thing to say since he had problems dealing with Deandre Ayton in the paint. Also, Austin Reaves basically did whatever he wanted all night long, leading to him having the best scoring game of his career.
As always, Domantas was an absolute monster when it came to rebounds. He cleaned the glass until it shone like it was new, pulling down a total of 14 rebounds. Ten of them were defensive rebounds, taking second-chance points away from the Lakers.
The big surprise was the number of steals he had, picking up three throughout the game. His average for the past few seasons has been under one per game. Collecting three is a huge jump for him, which happened because of the hustle he put in on defense.
The Sabonis the Kings need
Make no mistake that the Kings cannot succeed with Sabonis at center without him remaining the double-double machine fans know and love. At the same time, he needs to continue to grow his defensive presence on the court.
That means more steals, more blocks, and, yes, even more rebounds. He needs to be a bigger, stronger monster than the fans have ever seen before, who absolutely owns the paint and puts a lid on the rim. Is it a lot to ask? Yes, but the Kings need him to be that guy.
It's awesome that Sabonis is a double-double magnet. But the Kings have a roster of scorers, five of whom were in double digits against the Lakers in addition to Domantas. For Sacramento to win, Sabonis needs to keep racking up steals and blocks.