Subscribe
Follow Us
DeMar DeRozan has been everything the Sacramento Kings had hoped he would be alongside De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. However, the Kings have struggled early on this season, and DeRozan has been dealing with a back injury.
After recently missing three games with a lower back tightness, DeRozan has once again appeared on the Kings' injury report with lower back muscle inflammation. In his third game back from injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the veteran star experienced discomfort and received electrical stimulation to his back to try and ease the pain.
While he did finish this game with 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting, DeRozan and the Kings fell 130-109, losing their fourth straight game to fall to 8-10 overall on the season. To make matters worse, DeRozan is once again set to miss time with his back injury, as he is already listed as out for Wednesday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It is also worth mentioning that the Kings will be without secondary big man Trey Lyles against Minnesota due to a right calf strain. Lyles will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks after being diagnosed with a grade 1 calf strain.
As for DeRozan, no timeframe has been given for his back injury, which signals that it is very possible he will miss more than just Wednesday's game.
In a total of 15 games this season, DeRozan has averaged 22.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Prior to signing with the Kings, DeRozan had only missed 17 games over the last three seasons with the Chicago Bulls, close to only seven percent of the team's total games in that three-year span.
Wednesday night's game against the Timberwolves will be the fourth game of the season that DeRozan has missed, which equates to 21 percent of the team's total games thus far.
This is uncharted territory for DeRozan, as he has always been one of the most durable players in the NBA. He has dealt with hardly any injuries through the years, which is why this nagging back injury is a concern for Sacramento and DeRozan.
With DeRozan once again out due to his back injury, the Kings will look to Keegan Murray and Malik Monk to pick up the scoring hole left behind. Keon Ellis will likely see his minutes increase, and veteran sharpshooter Doug McDermott could see more time as well.
After missing just three games last season, DeRozan will miss his fourth game of the night when the Kings look to snap their four-game losing streak in Minnesota.
