Malik Monk was already having the best season of his career, but under Doug Christie, his play has really taken off.

Winning at home has been a big point of emphasis since Christie took over as interim coach of the Kings when Mike Brown was fired in December. The Kings did it again in a Thursday night thriller, beating the Houston Rockets 132-127 before a sellout crowd of 18,227 at Golden 1 Center and a national television audience on TNT.

DeMar DeRozan had 33 points, Malik Monk added 26 points and nine assists and the Sacramento Kings beat the Houston Rockets 132-127 on Thursday night.

The Kings are not just winning under interim coach Doug Christie, they're routinely pulling off come-from-behind victories. Enough so that the coach has now put himself in the record books just 12 games into his tenure.

For the first time since Doug Christie took the helm as head coach, the Sacramento Kings have lost back-to-back games.

Kings shooting guard DeMar DeRozan gave an honest answer about his future amid De'Aaron Fox's trade speculation.

Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers past the Sacramento Kings 117-104 for their fourth straight victory. Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, left, tries to get past

Regardless of whether the Sacramento Kings move De'Aaron Fox by the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, they need to recognize this as an organizational pivot point.

“In this business, you have to put those emotions aside,” Fox said. “Obviously, everybody especially who were here during that long (postseason drought), and who was on this team when we made the playoffs, obviously that means a lot to everybody.

Sacramento lost, 117-104, at the Wells Fargo Center, against a 76ers team missing former MVP Joel Embiid and All-Star Paul George, and that was also playing on the back end of a back-to-back.

DeMar DeRozan is widely known as the king of the mid-range. Between the turn-around mid-range jumpers and his pull-up shots in the paint, it's the key talking point for anyone dissecting the six-time All-Star's game.

The Kings almost came back from a 25-point deficit on the second night of a back-to-back, but Nikola Jokic was too much to overcome.