Warriors’ Kevon Looney ate Domantas Sabonis alive
Sabonis #Sabonis
Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors handles the ball during the third quarter in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round Playoffs against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on April 30, 2023, in Sacramento, Calif.
Domantas Sabonis was an All-Star and the fulcrum of a historically great offense this year. Compared to Kevon Looney, though, that’s nothing.
Sabonis was outperformed at nearly every turn by Looney throughout this first-round series. Save for his 24-point performance in Game 2, the 26-year-old was quiet in part due to the defense that the Dubs’ frontcourt put on him, but mostly because of Looney’s astounding rebounding abilities that kept Sabonis off the defensive glass.
Nowhere was that more pronounced than in the Warriors’ 120-100 victory in a do-or-die Game 7. The two big men engaged in a box-out battle whenever a shot went up in the air, with Looney emerging as the victor almost every time. This wasn’t just one big man dominating another, this was the Dubs’ iron man outclassing the damn rebounding champ.
In the third quarter alone, the Warriors had 13 offensive rebounds, and Looney was responsible for seven of them. That stretch more than earned him half-cheeky comparisons to established Gods of the Glass, whether Dennis Rodman or “late 70s Moses Malone crossed with UCLA Bill Walton.” At one point on ESPN, broadcaster Mark Jackson even criticized Sabonis for face guarding Looney, saying, “This is not Wilt or Moses Malone,” though the Sacramento star might have been forgiven for thinking that.
Compare the efforts from each big man on these plays. Looney had superior positioning and fundamentals on every play to make the league’s top rebounder irrelevant. Sabonis’ movement, meanwhile, looks frantic, and reeks of the kind of desperation someone might have when their best effort is easily suppressed.
The 27-year-old finished Game 7 with 11 points, 21 rebounds (11 offensive, 10 defensive) and four assists. This was his third 20-rebound game of the series, making him the first to pull off such a feat since Dwight Howard in 2008. Sabonis was fine enough on the glass in the past two 20-board games Looney had. However, on Sunday, he managed just eight total rebounds, with only five coming on the defensive end. The rest, as you can imagine, all fell Looney’s way.
“This guy is a flat-out winner, and a machine, and we wouldn’t be here without him,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. Sabonis knows that better than anyone else.