Sacramento’s centers dominated on Sunday, with Valanciunas providing his first 20-point double-double since joining the team. Playing behind Domantas Sabonis limits JV’s fantasy ceiling considerably, but he’s shown the ability to remain valuable on multiple occasions. Next up for Sacramento is a play-in tournament game on Wednesday against the Mavericks, and they’ll have home-court advantage.

This was Valanciunas’ second-straight game as a reserve, but he may be headed back to the starting lineup on Wednesday. Domantas Sabonis briefly exited in the first quarter due to an eye laceration, but he was cleared to return. Unfortunately, he didn’t have better luck after that as an ankle injury ended his night after playing just 12 minutes. Sacramento has three games left this week, including a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday. Valanciunas should see a boost in production if Sabonis is out.

Valanciunas has been an excellent option in place of Domantas Sabonis, who has missed Sacramento’s last six games with a hamstring injury. Sabonis practiced on Wednesday and could return to play in Phoenix on Friday. If this was Valanciunas’ final game as a starter, it wasn’t a great send off. He was benched in the second half in favor of Trey Lyles, who scored 11 points in 22 minutes. This was likely more about matchups since Golden State isn’t an easy matchup for a big like Valanciunas. If Sabonis remains out against the Suns, Valanciunas should continue to start despite this frustrating night.