Sacramento watched Sabonis reemerge on the 20-point side, but a late collapse dooms Sacramento.
Domantas Sabonis no longer got placed on a minutes restriction. The Sacramento Kings handed him 31 minutes and responded by dropping 24 points.
But that effort, alongside a high-scoring offense on Sacramento's side, wasn't enough to finish off the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 123-118 loss Friday.
Sacramento led 114-113 late with four minutes left in the final period. But a Donovan Mitchell pullup jumper sparked the Cavs' rally -- outscoring the Kings 10-4 the rest of the way.
The perennial NBA All-Star Mitchell added a 26-foot three-pointer to further increase the lead. He, Jarrett Allen and Jaylon Tyson scored the final baskets for Cleveland.
DeMar DeRozan ended up hitting the final points for Sacramento -- two via the free throw line and the last one a running layup with 8.9 seconds left.
Sabonis, again, surpassed the 20-point threshold for the first time since Nov. 14 against the Minnesota Timberwolves when he scored 34 that evening. He dealt with a partial meniscus tear that sidelined him for all of December. He also scored eight points during the fourth.
The big also was a force on the rebounding end -- grabbing 16 to lead the Kings. It's now his first double-double since Nov. 16 against the San Antonio Spurs.
However, one likely reason behind his increased minutes deal with Maxime Raynaud. The rookie out of Stanford played just nine total minutes and didn't score -- with some believing he left with an injury. Raynaud had taken over the action inside for Sabonis in his absence.
DeRozan joined in on the 20-point party for Sacramento in dropping 20...which led the starting lineup. Reserve Dennis Schroeder scored 21 points to round out the 20-point scorers for Sacramento.
Malik Monk earned the most minutes at 33 even as a reserve. He finished scoring 16 points and led the Kings with nailing four shots behind the arc.
Russell Westbrook chipped in with 11 points including hitting a trio of threes. Zach LaVine rose as the last member of the Kings to reach double figures -- settling for 10 points and banked two shots from the three-point line.
Dylan Cardwell scored eight off the bench plus added two blocks, while Precious Achiuwa and Nique Clifford scored four.
Sacramento finished with 39% from three-land and shot 47% total. The Kings beat the Cavs in the fast break by 13-4. But the Cavs outscored the Kings 52-36 in the paint.
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