Is Domantas Sabonis Playing? Final Lakers vs Kings Injury Report Released

The three-time All-Star's longtime win streak against Anthony Davis has come to an end this year.

Dec 19, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) battles for position with Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) in the first quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

After notching a near-triple double in a double-digit, 113-100 Thursday loss to the Lakers on Thursday, Sacramento Kings star center Domantas Sabonis was downgraded to questionable to suit up for Saturday night's rematch with a back injury. In the prior bout, the 6-foot-10 big man, 28, scored 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor (1-of-1 from 3-point land) and 1-of-4 shooting from the foul line, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out one dime, and blocked two shots in 38 minutes.

On the year, Sabonis is averaging 21.4 points on .626/.443/.815 shooting splits, 13.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks in his 26 healthy games for the 13-15 club this year.

Earlier this afternoon, Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee and James Ham of ESPN 1320 Sacramento reported that the three-time All-Star was going to be put through his normal warmup paces prior to making an ultimate determination on his availability.

Plenty of good conversation with Mike Brown in pregame. Here is his answer about Domantas Sabonis’ availability and keeping the outside noise away from the locker room: pic.twitter.com/Qrr68B1X6c

— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) December 21, 2024

"He's supposed to go through the shooting and see how he feels," Brown said.

Happily, Sabonis has been officially given the green light to suit up, Anderson reports.

All-NBA Lakers center Anthony Davis had infamously lost all of his prior matchups against Sabonis, 0-10 ahead of this season — i.e. prior to DeRozan joining Sacramento in a sign-and-trade deal. Now, Davis has gone 2-0 on Sabonis' Kings already just this season, as fan @georgemikan observes on X. Sporting a 13-15 record and slumming it with the Western Conference's No. 12 seed as an all-offense, no-defense experiment, the Kings could really use an old school Sabonis-over-Davis win.

Two-way players Isaiah Crawford and Mason Jones are away from Sacramento, and are getting in more significant reps with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento G League affiliate. Standard roster Kings forwards Keegan Murray (left ankle) and Trey Lyles (right calf) have both seen their statuses upgraded to available.

On the 15-12 Lakers' side, a litany of frontcourt pieces are on the shelf for the squad. Center Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) and power forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery recovery) have yet to play a single game for Los Angeles this year. Center Jaxson Hayes remains out yet again with a right ankle sprain/contusion. Second-year point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino is also on the shelf with a strained left hamstring. Guard Bronny James and forward Maxwell Lewis are both on assignment with the club's NBAGL affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

All-Stars LeBron James, who's dealing with a left foot injury, and Anthony Davis, who has a left elbow contusion, are both going to play for L.A., reports Jovan Buha of The Athletic.

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