Domantas Sabonis: Key to Kings' Success in Tough Games

Sabonis put up a monster stat line in the first half, scoring 18 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He finished the game with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists in 27 minutes of action.

After the game, Sabonis was asked about the Kings’ upcoming schedule. Sacramento has two games left on their current road trip: a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday against the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and the playoff-bound Detroit Pistons. Earning at least a split of these two games would be a huge boost to the Kings’ play-in chances.

When asked how the team can build off of the victory against Charlotte and close out the road trip, Sabonis said, “We’ve got two tough games, you know, it’s a back-to-back and they’re not going to be easy. Two teams are going to be waiting for us, and for us it’s a ‘win or go home’ situation. So I hope everyone is locked in.” 

In order to have a chance to win either of their next two games, the Kings will indeed need to be “locked in”. They will have to bring the ball movement, aggressiveness on offense, and defensive intensity they showed on Friday and maintain it for all four quarters of each game. 

Consistency and urgency have been noticeably absent from the Kings’ play in most of their games for the last month. More often than not, Sacramento has looked like a team going through the motions and trying to get to the end of the season, not like a team battling for their postseason lives.

With five games left to play, the Kings are a full two games up on the Phoenix Suns for the No.10 spot in the Western Conference. The Suns have a difficult remaining schedule, and may not get star forward Kevin Durant back from injury. 

If the Suns can string together some wins and put pressure on the Kings, the final play-in spot could come down to the last game of the season when Phoenix visits Sacramento. The Kings will be looking to avoid having their postseason chances all on the line in their final game by locking in and winning their next two games.