Sacramento welcomed back the big for the first time in nearly two months as the Kings topped the Wizards.
Turns out Dennis Schroeder wasn't the only notable returner to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.
The franchise welcomed back Domantas Sabonis for the first time in nearly two months. And the Kings fed him in the paint right away.
Sabonis dropped 13 points in 21 minutes as Sacramento won its fourth straight, taking down the Washington Wizards 128-115 inside the Golden 1 Center.
Kings reporter for Sactown 1140 Matt George noticed how efficient Sabonis looked on the floor. Especially when teamed with a fellow guard who came off the bench with him too.
"Nique Clifford and Domantas Sabonis look like they've been playing together for years. Really smooth two-man game," George posted on the social media website X, formerly known as Twitter.
Sabonis missed 27 games total with a small meniscus tear in his knee. Head coach Doug Christie placed him in at the 5:11 mark in the first quarter.
Sabonis attacked the basket one minute later -- scoring off a driving layup to make it 24-22 in favor of the Kings. But Sabonis really looked like his past attacking self at the 2:47 mark -- throwing down this left-handed slam that got the crowd to their feet.
Sabonis looked perfectly fine taking flight after his knee injury, even planting his left foot and exploding off that leg to elevate himself for the slam dunk. The Kings even ignited scoring wise once Sabonis entered -- going from a 22-20 lead to inflating it to 41-22, with his presence and energy sparking the astonishing 19-2 run.
Sabonis previously averaged 17.2 points per game before Friday's return. He became one of six Kings players to reach double figures.
Russell Westbrook led the scoring charge with 26 points including dishing out six assists. Westbrook also led with six made three-pointers. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points and played the most minutes among the starters at 33.
Precious Achiuwa, fresh off delivering career-high against the New York Knicks, scored 16 on the evening. LaVine produced the same number of points in 32 minutes including hitting a trio of threes.
Schroeder, meanwhile, led all bench scorers with 15 points in his first game back since serving his three-game suspension by the league. The veteran played 20 minutes, second-highest among reserves next to Sabonis.
Dylan Cardwell finished with eight points while grabbing nine rebounds, the latter mark leading Sacramento. Clifford finished with nine on the scoring stat sheet. Maxime Raynaud settled for only four points but pulled down eight rebounds.
The Kings now have created their longest winning streak of the season.
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