SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis scored 13 points in his return from a knee injury, Russell Westbrook had 26 and the Sacramento Kings beat the Washington Wizards 128-115 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Sabonis returned after missing 27 games because of a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. The three-time All-Star forward/center came off the bench, entering with 5:11 left in the first quarter.
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Toronto Raptors' Brandon Ingram, center, battles with Los Angeles Clippers' Cam Christie (12) and Kobe Sanders, second from right, during second-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) looks to shoot over Sacramento Kings guard Russell Westbrook (18) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) reacts after dunking the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) goes yup to dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sabonis also had seven rebounds and five assists in a little over 21 minutes. He was 5 of 6 from field, with the miss coming from 3 -point range.
Dennis Schroder also was back for the Kings after serving a three-game suspension for confronting Lakers star Luka Doncic after a game in Los Angeles. Schroder had 15 points and five assists.
Westbrook was 9 of 14 from the field, hitting 6 of 9 3-pointers, and had six assists. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, and Precious Achiuwa and Zach LaVine each had 16.
The Kings have won the first three games of a seven-game homestand to improve to 12-30. They opened the run against Houston, then beat the Lakers and New York.
Alex Sarr led Washington with 19 points, and Tre Johnson had 18. The Wizards dropped to 10-30 with their fifth straight loss.
Washington newcomer Trae Young — acquired from Atlanta in a deal that sent CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to the Hawks — is sidelined by knee and quadriceps injuries. He will be re-evaluated in mid-February.
Sacramento led 67-61 at the half after scoring 41 points in the first quarter and giving up 39 in the second. The Kings had a 34-23 edge in the third.
Wizards: At Denver on Saturday night.
Kings: Host Portland on Sunday night.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Toronto Raptors' Brandon Ingram, center, battles with Los Angeles Clippers' Cam Christie (12) and Kobe Sanders, second from right, during second-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Washington Wizards forward Kyshawn George (18) looks to shoot over Sacramento Kings guard Russell Westbrook (18) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) reacts after dunking the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis looks on during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
Sacramento Kings center Dylan Cardwell (32) goes yup to dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Scott Marshall)
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sgt. Declan Coady had been checking in with his family from Kuwait every hour or two after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, even as Iran launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.
When he didn't respond to messages Sunday, “most of us started to wonder,” Coady's father, Andrew, told The Associated Press. “Your gut starts to get a feeling.”
A drone strike at a command center in Kuwait killed 20-year-old Coady of West Des Moines, Iowa, and five other service members of the U.S. Army Reserve who worked in logistics and kept troops supplied with food and equipment.
The other soldiers identified Tuesday by the Pentagon were: Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.
U.S. Army base Fort Knox, Kentucky, said in a Facebook post that two additional names would be released once their next of kin has been notified. Their unit, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, is temporarily operating under the 1st Theater Sustainment Command at Fort Knox.
“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of the deaths. Trump will attend the dignified transfers of the soldiers when they arrive in the U.S., the White House said Wednesday. The ritual honors service members killed in action.
Amor was just days away from returning to her husband and children.
“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts.”
Amor was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes she grew with her son, a high school senior. She enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.
A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, her husband said.
“They were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.
Childhood friend Natalie Caruso wrote on Facebook that she was “absolutely heartbroken” about Amor's death.
“Nicole was always up for an adventure and she had such a contagious laugh!" Caruso wrote Wednesday.
Coady recently told his father he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
He was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, Andrew Coady said Tuesday.
“He trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”
Coady, an Eagle Scout, was close to his family and often called, even if for only a few minutes. He was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines, and he wanted to become an officer.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back."
Khork was very patriotic and wanted to serve in the military from childhood, his family said in a statement Tuesday.
He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.
“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” his mother, Donna Burhans; father, James Khork; and stepmother, Stacey Khork; said in a statement.
Khork, who loved history, had a degree in political science.
His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”
Abbas Jaffer posted Monday on Facebook about his friend of 16 years.
“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said.
Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church’s gym.
“I thought he was going to be the last person in, because he hates all this (hoopla),” his wife, Michelle Tietjens, told the Lincoln Journal Star at the time.
Tietjens’ cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate “unimaginable loss.”
“We lost a brave soldier this weekend and many hearts are broken,” Golike wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said on Facebook.
Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Coleman said Tietjens was his mentor.
"You could call him day or night,” Coleman told KETV. “He always took the time, you know, he made you feel important.”
Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Josh Funk and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and David Fischer in Miami contributed.
Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
This combination of images provided by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025 shows, from top left, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn., Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla., and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Army via AP)
This combination of images provided by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025 shows, from left, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn., Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla., and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Army via AP)
This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, in this May 16, 2025, photo. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Amy via AP)
This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla., in this May 16, 2025, photo. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Amy via AP)
This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb., in this May 16, 2025, photo. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Amy via AP)
This image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn., in this May 16, 2025, photo. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Amy via AP)
Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Keira Coady holds a photo of her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Keira Coady talks about her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
