PHOENIX – Tyreke Evans' sore left knee kept him out of Monday's game against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center.

Since suffering a bruised left knee Nov. 27 against Minnesota, the veteran guard has missed seven of 10 games. Evans left Sunday's loss to Denver after 10 minutes on the floor.

An MRI showed no structural damage to the knee.

Kings coach Keith Smart said it's not up to him whether Evans needs an extended break.

"That's something that's going to come down to him and the medical staff," Smart said. "My thing is, when I see that you can't move, I've got to pull the plug on you. It's up to you, the medical staff and your representatives to make that final call."

Smart said there are no further tests to run on Evans' knee.

"I think the doctors and training staff have done all they can possibly do," Smart said. "Now it just comes down to pain tolerance. He plays a position where there's different changes of direction, where you have to push off, and he's an acceleration guy. He's not a big guy that stands in one place or runs in a straight line."

Evans continues to receive daily treatment on his knee. Until he played last Wednesday at Milwaukee, Evans had been going on the court before the game to test his knee to see if he could play.

He'll go back to doing that nightly and let Smart know how he feels. Smart said Evans has to be 100 percent confident in his knee.

"He has to get up and down the floor and chase off guards, point guards, and be able to change directions," Smart said. "And anytime you do that, you're putting pressure on it. It's all going to be about how much pain he can possibly stand with that because right now there's nothing else you can do outside of that."

One more guard – Smart said guard Marcus Thornton would rejoin the team in time for Wednesday's game against the Warriors.

Thornton has missed the past four games after returning to Louisiana to visit his mother, who has been ill.

Smart said Thornton's conditioning will be a concern, but the coach looks forward to getting his team back together.

Thornton and Evans rank second and third, respectively, on the Kings in scoring.

"Getting (Thornton) back on the floor, getting back around the team and playing a little bit, maybe we can start making a push again," Smart said.

Honeycutt recalled – The Kings recalled second-year forward Tyler Honeycutt from the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League.

Honeycutt was assigned to the Bighorns on Nov. 8 after missing most of the summer league and preseason because of stress fractures.

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