The Sacramento Kings are in a race to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference. They currently hold the No. 6 spot in the standings but are only a half-game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks and four games ahead of the 10th-place Golden State Warriors.
The Kings will have their work cut out for them down the stretch of the season, but things look like they got a little harder on Monday night. When playing against the Memphis Grizzlies, starting shooting guard Kevin Huerter went up for a layup and was contacted by Desmond Bane.
He fell to the ground, where he remained briefly before heading to the locker room while holding onto his arm. Huerter was ruled out for the remainder of the game, as he was injured only 1:51 into the contest.
Sacramento would go on to win the game 121-111 in overtime, getting a much-needed victory. But, after the game, head coach Mike Brown did not have an update to provide on the status of Heurter.
“Obviously, with this team, it’s always next-man-up mentality,” Sacramento point guard De’Aaron Fox said. “We have to be ready to play without Kev if it is some kind of long-time thing.”
Huerter hasn’t been as impactful for the Kings this season as he was in his first season with the franchise. His numbers have dropped across the board, with a major hit coming to his efficiency.
The first-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft is making only 36.1 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, which would be a career-low. The 10.2 points per game is the least he has scored since his rookie season in 2018-19 with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Kings will be back on the court Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors when they begin a three-game road trip. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Huerter was out for that game based on how bad the injury looked. But, no official word has been given yet on his status moving forward.
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