The Portland Trail Blazers are riding high after back-to-back victories over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and now they’ll look to keep that momentum going on Friday night. Portland enters its road matchup against the Sacramento Kings at 8-3, while Sacramento has struggled to a 1-10 start. With the Blazers playing some of their best basketball of the season, this is a game they should be able to win convincingly.

Portland has quickly established itself as one of the more impressive teams in the Western Conference, and its recent performances have only reinforced that. After taking down Oklahoma City in consecutive games, the Blazers have improved to 8-3 despite dealing with significant injuries throughout the early portion of the season.

Now comes a matchup against a Sacramento team that has been one of the league’s biggest disappointments.

The Kings are just 1-10 and have struggled on both ends of the floor. While they have several players capable of producing impressive individual performances, they haven’t been able to consistently put everything together as a team.

Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. has been a bright spot, emerging as a high-volume scorer and one of the most productive first-year players in the league. Zach LaVine has made a career out of putting the ball in the basket, while Domantas Sabonis is still capable of taking over a game with his scoring, rebounding and playmaking, even if he hasn’t been at his best this season.

Those players give Sacramento some offensive upside, but Portland has the advantage in nearly every other area.

The Blazers have more depth, a stronger starting lineup and a much more balanced offensive attack. They’ve also been significantly better defensively, which has been a major factor in their early success.

Even with Ja Morant and Shaedon Sharpe sidelined, Portland has enough talent to continue winning games. Damian Lillard, Deni Avdija, Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson give the Blazers multiple options offensively, while Donovan Clingan and Toumani Camara provide defensive versatility and physicality.

That combination has made Portland a difficult team to beat, and Sacramento doesn’t appear particularly well-equipped to exploit the Blazers’ weaknesses.

There is also an additional element to Friday’s contest, as this is an NBA Cup group-stage matchup. Unlike a typical regular-season game, point differential can play an important role in determining which teams advance from group play. That means Portland has an incentive to continue building its lead rather than simply protecting a comfortable advantage late in the game.

Given how well the Blazers have played recently, that could be particularly important against a struggling opponent.

Portland enters as a double-digit favorite, and the line makes sense. The Blazers are the better team on paper and have backed that up with their performance through 11 games.

A victory would improve Portland to 9-3 and provide even more momentum heading into a difficult stretch of the schedule. More importantly, a convincing performance could help the Blazers strengthen their position in NBA Cup group play.

Following this contest, the Trail Blazers will travel to Minnesota to face the Timberwolves on Monday, November 16, in what should be a much tougher Western Conference test.