Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis diagnosed with avulsion fracture in right thumb

Kings center Domantas Sabonis will attempt to keep playing despite suffering a painful thumb injury in Friday’s loss to the Washington Wizards.

The Kings announced Monday that Sabonis sustained an avulsion fracture of the ulnar collateral ligament of the right thumb. The injury was diagnosed following extensive consultation with team physicians and outside specialists.

The Kings said Sabonis will be listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets at Golden 1 Center. Sabonis’ ability to play through the injury will largely depend on pain tolerance.

Kings coach Mike Brown acknowledged that the news was better than he expected.

“It’s one of those things that, initially, you think it could be a long time, but he’s listed as questionable tomorrow based on what all the medical experts say,” Brown said.

Veteran center Alex Len practiced with the first team Monday as the Kings prepared to play the Nuggets in a tough back-to-back Tuesday and Wednesday. The Nuggets feature two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.

Len has appeared in only eight games while logging a total of 25 minutes this season, but he has started 235 of 578 games over 10 seasons in the NBA. Len has posted per-36 averages of 15.8 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists in limited duty this season. He had his best game in a Nov. 30 win over the Indiana Pacers, finishing with four points, five rebounds and one assist in five minutes.

“Alex is a veteran who knows the league, and he played at a pretty high level this summer for Ukraine and did a nice job,” Brown said. “He’s a professional. That’s what I enjoy about him. He always, after games when he doesn’t play, he’s up here getting extra wind sprints in and getting his lift on. He comes back at night and gets shots up and so on and so forth, so I have no worry about Alex not being ready if his number’s called.”

Sabonis has made a strong case for his third All-Star selection this season, averaging 20.3 points, 15.1 rebounds and 7.4 assists while shooting 65.9% from the field and 58.3% from 3-point range. He has posted 10 consecutive double-doubles, including back-to-back triple-doubles in his last two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Wizards.

Brown was asked how much of an adjustment the Kings will have to make if Sabonis is unable to play.

“We’ve been running the same stuff since training camp started, so everybody is capable,” Brown said. “Obviously, our other bigs aren’t the type to bring it in transition and make a play for himself and others, at least I don’t think so yet, so that part will change, but in terms of what we do, it’s all the same.”

Kings guard Kevin Huerter answered a similar question.

“Domas is a huge part of what we do,” Huerter said. “There’s no secret to that. Over the past couple weeks, the triple-doubles and the 20-rebound games, it’s hard to replace that kind of production.

“… There’s not many guys in the league who can replicate Domas’ style, so I think it will change up a little bit, but the offense we have in place, it’s not like we came in here today and put in new plays or started changing up things we’re going to do differently. We’ve got to plug guys in, obviously, where guys might be out and just try to get used to playing with each other in new lineups.”