Terence Davis comes up big off the bench as Sacramento Kings race past Washington Wizards

The Kings’ turnaround season has been highlighted by the team’s NBA-leading offense, All-Star appearances by De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, the likely end of the longest playoff drought in league history, Sacramento’s excitement, and, of course, the beam.

But an underlying plot line has been the team’s depth and ability to get contributions from different players on a given night. On Saturday in the nation’s capital, in a 132-118 victory over the Washington Wizards, it was Terence Davis’ turn to remind his teammates he can still be that guy.

“He was big,” Kings coach Mike Brown said.

Davis scored 21 points while hitting five of 5 of 7 from 3-point range. He added seven rebounds and was plus-18 in 29 minutes. With Kevin Huerter (right popliteus) and Trey Lyles (right shoulder) in street clothes, Sacramento needed others to pick up the slack on the third game of a four-game road trip, a long way from home.

“Sometimes you got to look in the mirror and correct what you see in the mirror, honestly,” Davis said candidly.

Added Keegan Murray: “TD’s had a rough couple of weeks.”

Davis’ last four games included two DNPs and playing just 4:35 and 8:41 in the previous two contests against Chicago and Brooklyn. He’s mostly fallen out of the rotation in March.

“I haven’t been playing well,” Davis said. “So that’s just point-blank, period. I haven’t been playing well. I haven’t been locked in, honestly. I’m just trying to get that rhythm back. The opportunity opened back up for me and I was able to take advantage of it. Thank God. Give him all the glory.

“I just try to keep my confidence up because going through games and playing low minutes — or maybe not playing well — that kind of messes with your confidence.”

Much of the discussion before the game centered around Kessler Edwards, the 22-year-old trade deadline acquisition who’s play recently has exceeded expectations. He’s taken most of Davis’ minutes lately and was given the start in place of Huerter, who suffered his injury Thursday against Brooklyn.

But Edwards had to check out of Saturday’s game at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter after picking up his third foul, forcing Davis into action earlier than anticipated. Davis missed his first 3-point attempt but nailed his next three, scoring 11 points in the first quarter before adding five more in the second, including another 3.

The Kings fell behind early, 23-13, but finished the first quarter leading 37-33. They finished the frame on a 24-10 sprint thanks in part to Davis’ spark off the bench. Sacramento never relinquished the lead thereafter.

Davis was one of three Kings with five 3s on the night. The Kings made 59.5% of their 37 attempts, the highest percentage of makes with at least 25 attempts in team history. Sacramento also set a new team record for 3s in a season, adding 22 to make their total 879.

Murray’s 3 at the 4:06 mark in the first quarter gave the team 938 to break the record set last season. The Kings have 12 games remaining.

Davis’ big game came after he had a conversation with Matthew Dellavedova on the flight from Brooklyn to Washington late Thursday night. Dellavedova often only plays in garbage time or when Fox is absent, but he has made an impact on Sacramento behind the scenes.

“Delly came from the back (of the plane) to the front to sit with me,” Davis said. “He just talked to me, hear me out, see how I’m feeling, see how I am mentally. We had a good talk. That right there — sometimes that does it for a player of my caliber. Just having someone listen to you, kind of know what you’re going through.

“Just him having that talk was pretty much everything for me. He’s a great guy, great veteran, great leader on and off the court. Shout out to Delly.”

Huerter was a game-time decision and is considered day-to-day with his injury. If he misses more time, Davis will continue to have more opportunities to pick up the slack like he did Saturday.

Malik Monk and Murray were the other Kings to hit five 3s. Murray’s 19-point performance came in stark contrast to the December loss to Washington back at Golden 1 Center. Murray scored just three points that night on 1-of-8 shooting.

Sabonis nearly had his fifth triple-double in seven games, but he came up short, finishing with 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. He also left Capital One Center with a few bumps and bruises.

He took a hard spill and banged his left hand to the point where he couldn’t high-five his teammates with it. That meant he could only use his right, non-shooting hand, which still has a brace on it because of an avulsion fracture to his thumb.

Sabonis also took a hit the face from Bradley Beal in the fourth quarter. Sabonis initially feared he might have broken his jaw, but a quick check on the sideline alleviated those concerns.

Asked how he felt after the win, Sabonis said with a laugh: “Pretty broken, but you know, we have day off (Sunday), so tonight and tomorrow I’ll take some time to rest and do treatment, stay ready.”

Sabonis was up to his usual tricks, setting screens on the perimeter, finding teammates with passes and using dribble handoffs to get his teammates open looks, which has been a key formula to Sacramento’s 3-point shooting all season.

He also bullied Washington defenders down low, making 10 of 12 shots and going 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

“I think we attacked the paint well today, which allowed for the help side (defense) to help,” he said. “We just made the right reads for getting guys open.”

Davion Mitchell was given the defensive player of the game chain. The Kings were plus-32 in his 18:45 on the floor. He only scored six points but drew praise from Brown for his defensive work afterwards.

“His ball pressure was fantastic,” Brown said. “He’s just gifted with that. And he’s got a tenacity about him that’s off the charts. He’s relentless and you have to be relentless in order to be able to defend the way he does.”

The Kings had December’s loss on their minds coming in. The Wizards controlled the game and won 125-111 while scoring 70 points in the paint. They had 48 on Saturday.

“They were conscious of it because we brought it to their attention,” Brown said. “Washington came in and they kicked our behind starting with points in the paint. Not only did they come in and do it, they said it was part of their game plan going in, because our interior defense was not great, plus we were really small.

“So we let our guys know that they think this way. Not only them, but a lot of other teams do, and we’re the only ones that change that narrative, so let’s go do it tonight.”

The Wizards, of course, were missing 7-foot-3 center Kristaps Porzingis. The Kings took advantage by blocking seven shots, two off their season high. Chimezie Metu led the way with three blocks. Monk had a highlight reel dunk in the fourth quarter.

The Kings improved to 43-27. They remain tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for second in the West, but the Kings hold the tiebreaker based on their conference record. They will try to conclude a 4-0 road trip Monday against the Utah Jazz.