Domantas Sabonis missed his seventh consecutive game Sunday night due to a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. The Sacramento Kings have struggled to play well in the paint since the big man's absence. Maxime Raynaud might be the answer that the Kings' coach Doug Christie is looking for.
The Sacramento Kings really miss Domantas Sabonis, and it was evident Sunday night in the 115-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the Golden 1 Center.
With Sabonis sitting in street clothes for the seventh consecutive game due to a partially torn meniscus in his left knee, Grizzlies' big man Zach Edey had a field day against the Kings and did virtually whatever he wanted.
Edey scored 32 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies to a victory more commanding than the score indicated. The Grizzlies scored 62 points in the paint. It was as if the middle of the Kings defense was non-existent.
Edey had his third double-double of the season virtually by halftime. With Sabonis out, he shot 16-of-20 from the floor. Edey scored six points in the final four minutes to ice the game and lead Memphis to their fourth consecutive victory.
Drew Eubanks has been starting in place of Sabonis and has done an admirable job and has been serviceable. However, he lacks the instinct that Sabonis has and Doug Christie is looking for another replacement.
Enter rookie Maxime Raynaud. The 7-foot-1 center fouled out playing 23 minutes in relief of Eubanks. He scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. He grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists.
While the stat line does not jump off the page and look exciting, Christie looked at the small sample size and likes what he saw.
“Max has done a great job,” Christie said. “He comes in, he's highly attentive to the game plan, trying to execute the game plan at a high level, understanding. He communicates really well.”
Raynaud had the arduous task of challenging Edey who performed like a well-oiled machine. It was a good learning effort for the rookie, who maximized his effort and gained good game experience against one of the league's best, young big men.
“He's a young player so when it comes to leverage and physicality and some different things that he is learning right before our very eyes … that can be tough,” Christie said. “Especially with a big guy like Zach Edey and Jared Jackson Jr. These guys are huge, but he's beginning to hold his own, and you can see that the game is slowing down for him. As it slows down and he continues to improve, his minutes are going to go up.”
Sacramento trailed by as many as 13 in the third quarter before going on a run and taking an 87-83 lead into the fourth quarter. Edey and the Grizzlies went on a 14-2 run to start the fourth quarter and then closed the game down in the final minutes.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, while Malik Monk added 21. Zach LaVine chimed in with 19 points after scoring 34 points Friday night against the Utah Jazz.
The Kings will next travel to face Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.