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Domantas Sabonis Makes Anthony Davis Statement Before Kings-Mavericks

Posted on April 16, 2025 - 1:42 am by

Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis prepares to face Anthony Davis and the Dallas Mavericks in the play-in tournament.

The Sacramento Kings ended their 2024-25 regular season with a dominant win over the Phoenix Suns, clinching home-court advantage against the Dallas Mavericks for their play-in tournament matchup on Wednesday.

The Kings finished their season in ninth place in the Western Conference with a 40-42 record, prominently led by a new-look star trio of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Domantas Sabonis.

The Mavericks finished just one game behind the Kings with a 39-43 record, but were plagued with injuries throughout their regular season. The Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis, but the superstar big man only played nine games for Dallas due to injuries.

Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) and forward LeBron James (23) and Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) in action during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Luckily for Dallas, Davis is healthy for Wednesday’s play-in matchup, but he and Kings star Domantas Sabonis have an interesting history.

Sabonis started his career with an absurd 10-0 head-to-head record against Davis, but has since lost the last four matchups. Now, with their seasons on the line, the two star big men are set to meet for the 15th time.

Ahead of Wednesday’s matchup, Sabonis talked about Davis’ new fit with the Mavericks, specifically his change from playing center in LA to power forward in Dallas, and how that will change their game plan.

“He’s hovering around the paint,” Sabonis said about Davis playing power forward. “I might think I might go by the big man, but then you have AD coming from behind, so obviously that makes it a lot more difficult. Same thing, we might be in the pick and roll, but then on the weakside it’s AD and not some other power forward.”

Sabonis also talks about how Davis’ general play style has changed since getting traded to the Mavericks.

“Maybe (Davis is) just more aggressive,” Sabonis said. “He’s going out there, taking more shots. They’re playing great with him. That’s why it’s going to be a team effort from us to try to slow him down.”

Slowing down Davis will certainly be a point of emphasis for the Kings, and likely the key to victory for them. Davis has not been as consistently effective as usual with all of the injuries he is dealing with, but he has started to find a rhyhtm recently.

In his last four games, Davis has averaged 24.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 3.3 blocks while shooting 50.7% from the field. Sabonis and the Kings will certainly have their hands full against Davis and the Mavericks, but in a win-or-go-home matchup, the more prepared team will likely come out on top.

This will be the biggest game of Doug Christie’s young coaching career, and a serious chance for him to prove himself as a head coach at this level, and he will certainly need to lean on his veteran stars to take Sacramento over the hump.

The winner of Wednesday’s game will take on the loser of Tuesday’s Golden State Warriors vs. Memphis Grizzlies play-in matchup to decide the final playoff spot.

The Kings and Mavericks will face off at 7:00 p.m. PST in Sacramento on Wednesday night.