Kings say Domantas Sabonis has avulsion fracture in right thumb

Sacramento KingsAll-Star center Domantas Sabonis has been diagnosed with an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament of the right thumb, the team announced Monday.

The Kings had said he was questionable for Tuesday's home game against the Denver Nuggets, indicating he may try to play through the injury, but ruled him out shortly before tipoff.

Sabonis sustained the injury to his non-shooting hand in the fourth quarter of Sacramento's 125-111 loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday.

He has been a driving force in the Kings' renaissance this season, averaging 17.9 points, a league-leading 12.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists for the current No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.

Sacramento hasn't made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season, the NBA's longest postseason drought. The Kings are 17-14, 3 games behind first-place Denver in the West and only a half-game behind fourth-place Phoenix.

Sabonis, an All-Star in 2020 and 2021 with Indiana, was traded by the Pacers to the Kings last February in a deal that included guards Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield.

Information from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was included in this report.