The Sacramento Kings travel to Texas to play the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center on Friday.

The Kings (8-12) come into this matchup losing four of their last five games and it ended a stretch in which Sacramento won six of their previous nine fixtures. That actually followed up a nightmarish 0-5 start and it's becoming clear that this team is full of volatility. That's very common with a young team and it's easy to see why when looking at the training room. Both Marvin Bagley III and De'Aaron Fox are both injured right now and those were supposed to be the foundations of this franchise. Both of those guys have shown superstar potential at times in their first two years in the NBA and it's scary how good this team could be when both return. They're not the only ones who have looked good too, with players like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Richaun Holmes also showing flashes. Those two have kept this Kings team alive with Bagley and Fox sidelined and they'll have to continue to do that with both out at least another week or so.

The Spurs (8-14) have had a disastrous start to their season and it's hard to believe they're this far below .500 at the quarter pole of the season. This is the worst start in about two decades and it looks like an uphill battle to keep their 20-year playoff streak alive. The main issues are on the defensive end, with San Antonio ranked 24th in points allowed and 26th in defensive efficiency. This is usually a club that sits Top-5 in both of those statistics and it's hard to understand the stark fall off. That has a lot of people talking about a big trade, with guys like Dejounte Murray, LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan as the focal points of those discussions. If this poor play continues, don't be surprised to see the Spurs pull the trigger on a deal with one of those guys to bring some assets back to San Antonio.

While the Kings swept the three-game season series last year, San Antonio actually won 42 of their previous 46 games against Sacramento. That's the most lopsided series in the NBA in that 12-year span.