The Kings received some unfortunate injury news as they prepared to face the New York Knicks on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The team announced Friday that imaging tests revealed that forward Trey Lyles has a sprained MCL in his left knee. He was ruled out for Saturday’s game and will miss several more games before being re-evaluated in two weeks.
Based on this schedule, Lyles will likely miss at least eight more games. He was injured in the second quarter of Tuesday’s 129-94 win over the Milwaukee Bucks and was subsequently ruled out for Wednesday’s 120-107 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Kings (38-27) list guard Kevin Huerter as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Knicks (39-27) because of a right leg contusion. Forward Sasha Vezenkov remains out with a sprained right ankle.
Vezenkov could be close to returning, but Sacramento’s power forward depth will be tested without Lyles, who has also been effective as a backup center in small-ball lineups.
Lyles, 28, is averaging 7.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in his third season with the Kings. He is shooting 45% from the field and 38.3% from 3-point range. Over the summer, the Kings re-signed Lyles to a two-year, $16 million contract.
The Kings acquired Lyles in the February 2022 trade that sent Marvin Bagley III to the Detroit Pistons. Lyles started 20 of his 24 games for the Kings in 2021-22 and has been one of coach Mike Brown’s most reliable reserves over the past two seasons.
The timing of the injury is unfortunate for the Kings, who are sixth in the Western Conference playoff race with 17 games remaining in the regular season. The Kings are one game behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the fifth seed. They are a half-game ahead of the Phoenix Suns, a game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, two games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and four games ahead of the Golden State Warriors.
