Sacramento Kings provide timeline for Domantas Sabonis’ hamstring injury
Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis will miss the team’s season opener while recovering from the hamstring injury that sidelined him for Friday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Lakers.
An MRI showed that Sabonis suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain during Wednesday’s preseason loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Kings announced on Saturday that Sabonis will be reevaluated in one week, meaning he will miss Wednesday’s season opener against the Phoenix Suns and Friday’s home opener against the Utah Jazz.
Sabonis was injured in a 109-91 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. He was not in the lineup for the preseason finale Friday as the Kings pulled off a dramatic 117-116 victory over the Lakers despite their growing injury woes.
In addition to Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan (groin), Keegan Murray (thumb), Malik Monk (illness) and the newly signed Russell Westbrook (reconditioning) were all ruled out for Sacramento on Friday. Murray is expected to miss at least four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb.
Sabonis is a three-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA Third Team selection who orchestrates much of Sacramento’s offense from the center position. He averaged 19.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists last season while shooting a career-high 41.7% from 3-point range.
Kings coach Doug Christie started Drew Eubanks in place of Sabonis and Isaac Jones in place of Murray in Friday’s game against the Lakers. Eubanks posted 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting with five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal in 20 minutes. Jones had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting with three rebounds, two assists and one block in 23 minutes.
