DeMar DeRozan, Doug Christie Credit Malik Monk After Kings' Win vs. Rockets

With backup guard Dennis Schroder suspended for three games, the Sacramento Kings needed someone to turn to as a ball-handler in the second unit against the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Luckily, the Kings have the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year runner-up on their bench, although sometimes they seem to forget.

After logging three straight DNP-CDs, Monk has finally returned to the lineup, and he came up huge in Schroder's absence on Sunday. As the Kings pulled off a huge upset over the Houston Rockets, Monk finished with 15 points in 26 minutes, reaching his highest marks since mid-December.

Malik Monk drains the corner three to give the Kings breathing room 🙌pic.twitter.com/oKEs6hA3y4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 12, 2026

Most notably, Monk dropped six points in the fourth quarter with a +14 rating through ten minutes, stepping up when the team needed it most.

DeMar DeRozan praises Monk's resilience

Of course, it is hard for a player to bounce back from completely falling out of the lineup, but Monk did just that. After the game, Kings star DeMar DeRozan praised Monk's ability to perform, despite everything he has been dealing with.

"It's just a testament to who he is as a pro, the talent that he is, and how he takes care of himself and stays ready," DeRozan said. "He's always in there working his butt off, staying ready. And tonight, it shows him, with everything he's been going through, the frustrations, everything, for him to come out and be ready and essentially play as big as he did to win us that game."

Monk has had a great career in Sacramento and showed his loyalty in the 2024 offseason by re-signing for a lower price tag than he was expected to get in unrestricted free agency. Of course, as a clear fan-favorite, everyone wants to see Monk get more playing time than he has been getting, especially when he can put defenders on posters as he did on Sunday night.

It's been a frustrating season for Malik Monk. Looks like Monk just took some of those frustrations out on the rim.pic.twitter.com/jW9c32SuAk
— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) January 12, 2026

DeRozan finished with a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting, but still credited Monk for winning them the game. Although Monk is not the sole reason the Kings pulled out a win, that is great leadership by the veteran forward to lift his teammate after going through a frustrating stretch of DNPs.

Doug Christie: "hats off" to Monk

It was Doug Christie's decision to pull Monk out of the lineup, claiming that they had too much of a logjam in their backcourt to find minutes for the sparkplug guard. On Sunday night, Christie did not have much of a choice but to lean on Monk, and it paid off.

"Malik played the last game as well. I mean, hats off to him. I wanted him out there with Nique [Clifford] as well to handle the ball, so we had a few people out there who could handle... Malik did a fabulous job. He played to the standard. Love him and commend him for that. That's big time respect for that," Christie said.

The best thing about Monk's performance on Sunday night is that he made winning plays. The Kings do not have enough players on this roster who want to play up to Christie's "standard," but Monk will do what it takes to win. Of course, that makes it even more bizarre that he fell out of the lineup for several games.

The Kings now move on to face Monk's former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, on Monday night, where they will need another big performance from him.

DeMar DeRozan praises Monk's resilience

Doug Christie: "hats off" to Monk

Recommended Articles