The Sacramento Kings play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center on Friday.

The Trail Blazers (0-1) got the better end of the Nuggets in the Western Conference Playoffs last season but Denver got their revenge in the opener. The Nuggets actually went into Moda Center and handed the Blazers a 108-100 defeat. The defense really collapsed in the fourth quarter, allowing Denver to drop 35 points. Damian Lillard did his job by providing 32 points and eight assists but C.J. McCollum scored just 12 points on 5-of-18 from the field. That obviously won't get it done and he'll surely play better in the coming games. The signing of Hassan Whiteside is obviously playing dividends though, collecting 16 points and 19 rebounds in that defeat. Those three will run the show for the rest of the season but contributions from players like Mario Hezonja, Rodney Hood, Kent Bazemore and Zach Collins would be welcomed too.

The Kings (0-1) also lost in their opener but their performance was downright embarrassing. Sacramento traveled to face the Phoenix Suns and many experts had that team pegged to be one of the bottom-dwellers in the west. The loss is bad but the nature of the defeat is what's really discouraging. The Suns handed the Kings a 124-95 beatdown and it's shocking just how poorly Sacramento played. They actually committed 26 turnovers in that loss, which ironically matched their worst total from last season, which happened to come against Phoenix too. Kings fans have to hope that it was just a blip on the radar though, as the first game can always be a tricky beast. In any case, look for them to play better here in their home opener and be a much better team down the line.

Portland has dominated this series over recent years, winning 12 of their last 14 games over Sacramento.