Sacramento Kings star big man Domantas Sabonis was left bloodied by a Kevon Looney elbow in the second quarter of Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Sabonis immediately hit the deck after getting hit in the face, and to make matters worse, there was no foul called on Looney.
Looney dropped an elbow on Sabonis during a jump ball and it hit Sabonis square in the face, and the Kings center was slow to get up after the incident:
Domantas Sabonis was hit in the face on this jump ball but stayed in the game. pic.twitter.com/NXjJijxXzY
— ESPN (@espn) April 29, 2023
Domantas Sabonis after being elbowed in the face by Kevon Looney with no call: pic.twitter.com/a1HoNfdbJU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 29, 2023
That hurt. That elbow was so clean that it could have been a knockout hit in an MMA bout or a Muay Thai match. It's just good to see Sabonis get back up after that elbow, but it is clear that he took a considerable knock here.
To add insult to injury, the referee didn't even call a foul on Sabonis. Unsurprisingly, this left Kings fans utterly displeased:
The elbow by Looney onto Sabonis was a flagrant 1. The zebras are swallowing their damn whistles right now 🤬👀
— Omees (@Gibbo_2010) April 29, 2023
Lmao the ref pic.twitter.com/lLuB6pwShc
— lDOlPlE (@lDOlPlE) April 29, 2023




I’m not a Kings fan but refs are doing everything they can to keep the Warriors in the game. This no call elbow, the over the back on looney that was somehow a Sabonis foul, the countless no calls on the fox turnovers, the clean steal from divincenzo. So blatant.
— Internet GM (@theinternetgm) April 29, 2023
Refs to Sabonis pic.twitter.com/CorJWE4NeL
— 🌃 (@Cozy_4x) April 29, 2023
Draymond and Looney when Sabonis is on the floor https://t.co/tLoMLshnfQ
— Stevie👑 (@Stevie_CEO) April 29, 2023
Thankfully, Sabonis appears to have come out of this incident relatively unscathed. The Kings star has a nasty cut under his left eye, but he was able to carry on with the game without incident. He's going to be sporting a black eye the rest of the game, though, so hopefully, it doesn't impair his vision.
The Kings will need Domantas Sabonis to be at his very best here with Sacramento just one loss away from a stunning first-round exit against the defending champions. They've lost three straight after winning Games 1 and 2, and another defeat on Friday night would be a truly heartbreaking end to what has been a very impressive season.