PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Over his three NBA seasons with the Thunder (2016-17) and Pacers (2017-19), Sabonis has averaged 10.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists over 229 games (90 starts). He has posted 47 double-doubles during his career, including a season high of 30 during the 2018-19 season.
2016-17: Sabonis appeared in 81 games (66 starts) during his rookie season in Oklahoma City and averaged 5.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist In 20.1 minutes per game. He shot 39.9 percent from the field and 65.7 percent from the free throw line during the regular season. He became the first rookie to start a regular-season opener for the Thunder in franchise history. He scored in double figures in 13 games. He grabbed five-plus rebounds 25 times and posted two double-doubles. He was a member of Team World during the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star 2017 in New Orleans. He made four three-pointers vs. MIA, 11/7, and recorded his first career double-double. Sabonis recorded a season-high 20 points at BOS, 12/23. He recorded one DNP-Coach’s Decision.
2017-18: He was acquired along with Victor Oladipo in a trade from Oklahoma City on July 6, 2017, Sabonis averaged 11.8 points, a team-high 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists over 24.5 minutes per game over 74 games and 19 starts. He finished 21st in the NBA while shooting a team-high 51.4 percent from the field. He also shot 35.1 percent from three-point range and 75.0 percent from the free throw line. Sabonis finished 24th in the NBA with 7.7 rebounds per game, and joined Clark Kellogg (10.6 rebounds in 1982-83) as the only two players under the age of 22 in Pacers NBA franchise history to average at least 7.5 rebounds per game over an entire season. After his rookie season in which he attempted 159 three-point tries, making 51, and netting only 44 free throws on 67 attempts, Sabonis attempted only 37 threes, making 13, and made 168 free throws on 224 attempts during the 2017-18 season. He finished with 44 games with 10 or more points with five games of 20 or more. He recorded a team-high 15 double-doubles during the regular season as the Pacers posted a 10-5 record over those games. He came off the bench to set a new career high with 30 points on 13-for-21 shooting in Indiana’s road win at Charlotte, 4/8. He made his Pacers debut with 16 points and shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in Indiana’s Opening Night win over Brooklyn, 10/18. He finished 7-for-7 from the field as he finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in the road win at Minnesota, 10/24. Sabonis tied Dale Davis’ franchise record for the most field goal attempts without a miss in a single game as he shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the field to finish with 22 points and 12 rebounds in Indiana’s win over the Spurs, 10/29. He pulled down 11 or more rebounds in six straight games with five double-doubles from Oct. 21 through Nov. 1. Sabonis posted 12 points and set a career high with 16 rebounds in the win over the Kings, 10/31. He made 19 starts during the regular season and averaged 13.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He missed eight games due to injury: two games (Nov. 7-8) with a right calf contusion and six (March 15-25) with a left ankle sprain.
He has helped his team reach the playoffs in all three of his NBA seasons, and has played 13 playoff games while averaging 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds over 20.6 minutes per game. Sabonis holds shooting percentages of .511 from the field and .750 from the free throw line
2016-17: Sabonis made two appearances off the bench in Oklahoma City’s First Round series against Houston and averaged 2.0 points and 1.0 rebound in 3.0 minutes per game. He scored four points and grabbed two rebounds in four minutes off the bench in Game 1 at Houston, 4/16.
2017-18: Sabonis appeared in all seven games off the bench for the Pacers in their First Round series against the Cavaliers. He averaged 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 58.1 percent from the field over 23.7 minutes per game. After totaling just 17 points over the first three games of the series, he scored in double figures in each of the last four games. He set a playoff career high with 22 points as he shot 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line in Game 5 at Cleveland, 4/25.
2018-19: He appeared in all four games in the Pacers’ opening around series against Boston and averaged 8.5 points and team highs with 7.3 rebound and 4.0 assists per game.