Ankles, knees, fingers, toes and even eyeballs.
The Sacramento Kings have seen it all while dealing with an endless series of injuries that derailed their season from the start.
In Thursday’s game against the Orlando Magic, Kings point guard Killian Hayes went into the game with one injury and left the game with another.
Paolo Banchero prevailed in a duel with DeMar DeRozan, putting up 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to lead the Magic to a 121-117 victory over the Kings at Kia Center in Orlando.
Desmond Bane scored 23 points to help the Magic (39-34) snap a six-game losing streak. Tristan da Silva added 18 points, Jamal Cain came off the bench to score 11 points and Wendell Carter Jr. recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
DeRozan had 33 points and six rebounds while matching his season high with 11 assists for the Kings (19-55), who had won five of eight before losing the first two games of their current five-game road trip. DeRozan, a 36-year-old veteran in his 17th NBA season, had another big game less than two weeks after posting 41 points and 11 assists in a win over the Utah Jazz.
DeRozan ranks 18th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 26,605 points. DeRozan is closing in on Dominique Wilkins (26,668) and Oscar Robertson (26,710) with eight games remaining in the season.
Daeqwon Plowden came off the bench to score 23 points for Sacramento, going 8 of 12 from the field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Precious Achiuwa and Devin Carter scored 14 points apiece. Malik Monk scored 13 and Maxime Raynaud added 10.
Hayes, who came to Sacramento on a 10-day contract as an injury replacement before signing for the rest of the season, was considered questionable going into the game due to left toe inflammation. He played less than two minutes before leaving the game with an injury to his left pinkie finger.
DaQuan Jeffries signing
Earlier in the day, the Kings signed DaQuan Jeffries to a 10-day contract after being granted a hardship exception.
Jeffries appeared in 31 games for the Kings from 2019-21. He has played 28 games for the G League Stockton Kings this season, averaging 23.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 seals while shooting 51.8% from the field and 43.8% from 3-point range.
Jeffries had two points in seven minutes in Thursday’s game against the Magic.
Up next
The Kings will continue their road trip when they visit the surging Atlanta Hawks on Saturday at State Farm Arena.
The Hawks (41-32) have won three in a row and 14 of their last 15 going into Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics. They are fifth in the Eastern Conference with a half-game lead over the Toronto Raptors and a one-game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.