Zach LaVine, Kings aim to gain ground in West vs. Nuggets

The Sacramento Kings lost All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis to a hamstring injury, but that hasn't slowed them down the past two games.

Sacramento overcame the absence of Sabonis to beat Houston and Dallas on the road, and it can sweep its four-game road trip when it visits the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night.

Sabonis, who leads the NBA in rebounding at 14.1 per game, suffered his injury in the first minute of a win over the Rockets on Saturday. The Kings won that game and then blew out the Mavericks 122-98 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Sacramento holds the eighth seed in the Western Conference but is only half a game behind the sixth-place Golden State Warriors. The Kings will have to endure at least another week without Sabonis in the lineup. Others have stepped up their play, most notably DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray and Zach LaVine, during the winning streak.

LaVine came to the Kings a month ago in the deal that sent De'Aaron Fox to San Antonio and Kevn Huerter to Chicago. After a feeling-out process, LaVine has come on strong, starting with a 42-point performance against Charlotte that kicked off Sacramento's winning streak.

"I was just waiting," DeRozan said of LaVine after the win over the Hornets. "It took long enough. I kept telling him the whole game, ‘Just shoot it,' and that's the outcome. ... It's nothing new for me."

LaVine averaged 24 points per game with the Bulls, and that has dipped slightly to 22.5 in 11 games with the Kings. DeRozan scores 21.9 ppg; Sabonis averages 19.5 ppg.

Not having Sabonis might be more costly against Nikola Jokic. Denver's three-time MVP center is third in the NBA in both scoring (28.9 points) and rebounding (12.7) and second in assists (10.4). He has recorded a league-leading 28 triple-doubles.

The Nuggets have needed his efforts to stay in the hunt for a high seed in the Western Conference. They have lost three of their last five contests since a nine-game winning streak.

The last loss, at Boston on Sunday afternoon, came without Aaron Gordon in the lineup due to an ankle injury. Gordon is listed as questionable for Wednesday night. Julian Strawther suffered a sprained left knee in the game and will miss four weeks.

If Gordon can't go, coach Michael Malone will move either Russell Westbrook or Zeke Nnaji into the starting lineup. Westbrook has played well in 28 starts this season, while averaging 12.7 points per game overall.

Jamal Murray is second on the team in scoring at 21.4 points, Michael Porter Jr. is third at 18.5 points and Christian Braun is right behind at 15.1 points a game.

Murray has been instrumental in the Nuggets winning 11 of 14 since the end of January. He averaged 24.7 points in February, including a 55-point night against Portland, and scored 26 at the Celtics, who were targeting him on defense.

"You've got to almost take it as a sign of disrespect," Malone said of the strategy, "and do whatever you can to stop that in its tracks."

--Field Level Media