Sacramento Kings lose key player to MCL injury going into game against New York Knicks

The Kings received some unfortunate injury news while preparing to face the New York Knicks on Saturday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

The team announced Friday that imaging exams revealed forward Trey Lyles is suffering from a left knee MCL sprain. He was ruled out for Saturday’s game and will miss several more games before he is reevaluated in two weeks.

Based on that timeline, Lyles is likely to miss at least eight more games. He sustained the injury in the second quarter of Tuesday’s 129-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks and was subsequently ruled out for Wednesday’s 120-107 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Kings (38-27) listed guard Kevin Huerter as questionable for Saturday’s game against the Knicks (39-27) due to a right leg contusion. Forward Sasha Vezenkov remains out with a right ankle sprain.

Vezenkov could be nearing a return, 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 served as one of coach Mike Brown’s most trusted 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, one game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks, two games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and four games ahead of the Golden State Warriors.