Malik Monk will miss his second game in a row when the Kings face the San Antonio Spurs on Friday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
Monk has been ruled out after an MRI confirmed he suffered a right toe sprain in Monday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The Kings said Monk will be considered day-to-day going forward.
Interim Kings coach Doug Christie started Keon Ellis with Monk out of the lineup in Wednesday’s 116-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Ellis will likely start against the Spurs as well.
Monk’s absence will take away one of the more compelling subplots as former Kings guard De’Aaron Fox makes his highly anticipated return to Sacramento after being traded to the Spurs on Feb. 3. Fox and Monk were childhood friends and Kentucky teammates before coming to the NBA. They reunited when Monk joined Fox in Sacramento at the start of the 2022-23 season.
Monk took over as the team’s starting point guard when Fox was sent to the Spurs in the three-team trade that brought Zach LaVine to Sacramento. Monk is averaging career highs of 17.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks in his eighth NBA season.