Kings Report – 2/26

The Sacramento Kings are back from the All-Star break to bring you more injuries, more losing, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of winning. Since we last caught up, the Kings extended their franchise-worst losing streak to 16 games, but finally broke it with a win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, February 23rd. Precious Achiuwa, who played one season for the University of Memphis, just six miles away from the Grizzlies’ arena, scored a season-high 22 points to go along with 12 rebounds.

Three players have had season-ending surgery. Our newest addition, De’Andre Hunter, who suffered an eye injury in just his second game as a King, underwent surgery to repair it. Zach LaVine, the Kings’ leading scorer, had surgery to repair a tendon in his right pinky finger. And Domantas Sabonis underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, an injury that has kept him off the court for most of the season.

Rookie Dylan Cardwell is also dealing with an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined for at least four weeks. That might be the most frustrating news of all, considering the rest of this season is basically garbage time, and it would be the perfect opportunity for the rookies to get meaningful minutes.

Speaking of rookies, Maxime Raynaud, who has been starting in Sabonis’ absence, has been really shining. Raynaud, a 7’1” center born in France, played college basketball at Stanford University and graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. He was drafted in the second round, with the 42nd pick, and he’s averaging 10.1 points and 7 rebounds this season, but he’s also had a couple of really standout performances, including 21 points and 19 rebounds against the New Orleans Pelicans, and his 11th double-double against Memphis on Monday.

Luckily, we have a fun rookie to talk about, because I don’t know if I could make it through this season otherwise. It’s been pretty painful. We’ve made it through 59 games (with only 13 wins, ouch), with only 23 left to go.

This week, by the time you read this the Kings will have played the 35-21 Rockets in Houston on Wednesday, February 25th, they’ll then travel to Dallas to take on the 21-36 Mavericks for a back-to-back on Thursday, February 26th, before traveling to Los Angeles to play the 34-23 Lakers on Sunday, March 1st, and then finally heading back home to play the 33-26 Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, March 3rd. Remember, any team can win on any given day. But I’m definitely not holding my breath.