The Sacramento Kings hope to turn a single success into a much-needed home winning streak when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. The Kings (34-33) fell to .500 and into ninth place in the Western Conference over the weekend following a four-game losing streak that included 29-, 26- and 16-point defeats, the latter two on the road.
Comforted by two days off, Sacramento headed back in a position direction when it returned home to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 132-122 on Monday. They now jump into the teeth of their seven-game homestand that also features visits from the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kings begin play Wednesday four games out of eighth place in the West, with far greater competition pursuing them from behind.
The Dallas Mavericks currently reside two games back in 10th, the last play-in spot, while the Phoenix Suns are another game behind in 11th. Even the end of their losing streak Monday couldn't be celebrated, as the Kings watched Domantas Sabonis leave the game with a sprained right ankle. Further examination Tuesday revealed the star big man likely will miss the rest of the homestand.
Sabonis was officially ruled out for Wednesday. Teammate Malik Monk tried to take a positive approach after the win. "Domas (is) strong," he said.
"He'll probably be back sooner than we think." With Sabonis limited to 12 minutes, Monk (28 points), Zach LaVine (23) and DeMar DeRozan (22) led the way against the Grizzlies. Sixty-eight games into t.