The Sacramento Kings play host to the Phoenix Suns at Golden 1 Center on Friday.

The Suns (38-34) come into this matchup losing five of their last six games. That poor stretch directly correlates with the Kevin Durant ankle injury, and it's becoming clear just how valuable he is to this team. It's the trade that's really crippled them because missing Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson from that deal hurts just as bad. They've also had to play the last two games without Deandre Ayton, and this club simply won't win many games with so many players missing. It's also putting some of their playoff hopes in jeopardy because the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz are all within 3.5 games. Those clubs are sitting 10th, 11th and 12th, which is scary for the rest of the teams in this conference.

The Kings (43-29) climbed all the way up to second in the west early last week, but they've lost their last two games to forfeit that spot. The Memphis Grizzlies are now two games up on the Kings, and it looks like Sacramento is locked into either second or third. That's quite the accomplishment for a club that hasn't reached the postseason in nearly 20 years, which was the longest streak in the NBA. De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis both earned an All-Star berth this year, and both of those guys have been unstoppable since then. Sabonis is actually just shy of a triple-double average in that span, and it's clear he's going to get some MVP consideration as well.

This is the fourth and final meeting between these teams, with Phoenix winning two of three. That gives the Suns six wins in their last nine matchups with the Kings in total.