Malik Monk is embracing his new role as the starting point guard for the Sacramento Kings, but he admits it has been a challenge.

Monk moved into the starting lineup at shooting guard in early December after finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season. He took over as the team’s primary point guard when childhood friend and former Kentucky teammate De’Aaron Fox was traded to the San Antonio Spurs on Feb. 2.

Monk is no stranger to distributing the ball as a secondary playmaker and the team’s best pick-and-roll ball handler, but starting at point guard in the NBA comes with increased pressure and added responsibilities. Monk said interim Kings coach Doug Christie and assistant coach Leandro Barbosa are helping him make the adjustment.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, coming off the bench, starting and now starting point guard,” Monk said. “You can’t prepare for that unless you have a whole summer, so I’m just trying to prepare and do the best I can with this time I have. I’ve got a lot of vets helping me, talking to me. DC is talking to me, LB is talking to me, so I’m taking it head on.”

The Kings (32-28) will put their four-game winning streak on the line when they conclude a four-game road trip against the Denver Nuggets (39-22) on Wednesday at Ball Arena.

Sacramento has won seven of nine to move from 10th to eighth in the Western Conference playoff race. The Kings are a half-game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for seventh and one game behind the Golden State Warriors for the No. 6 seed.

Monk is in his third season with the Kings after agreeing to a new four-year, $78 million contract last summer. He is averaging a career-high 17.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, a career-best 5.9 assists, 2.4 turnovers, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks while shooting 44.1% from the field and 32% from 3-point range.

In 12 games as the starting point guard, Monk’s scoring average and shooting percentages have declined while his turnovers have gone up. Over that stretch, he has averaged 16.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 3.3 turnovers, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks while shooting 41.5% from the field and 29.7% from beyond the arc.

Monk didn’t hesitate when asked which parts of the point guard position have come easy to him and which aspects have been more difficult.

“The passing part is easy for me,” Monk said. “The challenging part is knowing when to slow the game down, knowing when to score, knowing when to get a bucket, knowing when to get my teammates involved. I’m learning every game. I’m liking it though.”

Christie threw his support behind Monk when asked about his recent shooting, scoring and turnovers.

“I would say that’s to be expected, to be honest with you,” Christie said. “Our league is as elite as you can get, so just tinkering with stuff is going to put things off, so him, to his credit, trying to figure everything out on the fly is big time.”

Christie, who earned NBA All-Defensive Team honors four times in five seasons with the Kings, noted that Monk is being defended differently now.

“If you’re going to dig into a player’s legs similar to the way I tried to defend a lot of guys, I’m doing it for the fourth quarter,” Christie said. “I’m doing it for the jump shots to be short. Well, we’re doing that to him a little bit because now you have to handle the ball and bring the ball up, and all the mental energy it takes as well, so understanding you have a big responsibility, it’s not just you and your play, it’s us and our play.

“Is everyone where they’re supposed to be? There are a lot of things that go into that, and I live with a lot of the little things because I trust him implicitly. I love the kid. I love what he brings.”