There was good news and bad news Thursday regarding the injury Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis sustained in Wednesday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
A league source told The Sacramento Bee an MRI showed that Sabonis suffered a mild right hamstring strain. Sabonis has been ruled out for Friday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, but he seems to have avoided a more serious injury.
An extended absence would have been a crippling blow for the Kings, who are already missing Keegan Murray as they prepare for Wednesday’s season opener against the Phoenix Suns. Murray is expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his left thumb.
Sabonis was injured in a 109-91 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Sabonis left the game with 5:40 to play in the third quarter and did not return.
Kings coach Doug Christie expressed his concern for Sabonis after the game.
“Listen, your star player goes down, you never want to see that, period,” Christie said. “I can’t speculate on what it is. Hopefully it’s nothing. We have some time before the first game, but those are the things you just don’t want to see. But it’s part of what we do. It’s the same thing with Keegan. As unfortunate as it is, it’s just part of our game”
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.