As many of you are well aware, the Sacramento Kings are in the middle of a highly-contentious playoff race. They are currently ninth in the Western Conference and 3.5 games back from the eighth seed. Being able to move up one more spot has major implications for the play-in tournament because it means that they would only need to win one play-in game instead of two.
The final leg of their schedule isn't very forgiving, either. According to Tankathon, the Kings have the fifth hardest remaining strength of schedule in the league. And for their next game, the Kings have to play the team with the best winning percentage in the NBA in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
To make matters worse, they will have to do it without their best player.
Domantas Sabonis is back on the shelf
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Kings will have to go into battle against the Cavaliers without their All-NBA big man, Domantas Sabonis.
The Sacramento Kings have ruled Domantas Sabonis (right ankle sprain) out for Wednesday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) March 19, 2025
Sabonis actually left the Kings' Monday night victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on two separate occasions. The first time was because of a cut under his left eye. He came back from that only to sprain his right ankle and leave the game for good in the third quarter. In total, Sabonis only logged 12 minutes.
Sabonis has done a great job of staying healthy since joining the Kings. In the two years before this one, Sabonis played in all but three games for Sacramento. However, this recent stretch has not been nearly as smooth for him.
Earlier this month, Sabonis missed six games after straining his hamstring against the Houston Rockets. He returned to the lineup in their loss to the Phoenix Suns, but that was the only full game he was able to play before this recent injury.
With De'Aaron Fox no longer on the team, Sabonis is the team's clear-cut best player. So, being without him for any period of time will be a big blow, especially when they have an opponent as fierce as the Cavaliers on their docket.
The Kings are 31-27 in the games that Sabonis plays. Meanwhile, they are just 3-6 in the games that he has missed. Nine games is the most Sabonis has missed since the 2021-22 season. On the year, Sabonis is averaging 19.2 PPG, 13.9 RPG, and 6.2 APG on 65.9% true shooting.
Note: After initially publishing this, it was later reported that Sabonis will miss at least ten days with this right ankle sprain.