The Denver Nuggets play host to the San Antonio Spurs at Ball Arena on Friday.

The Spurs (1-0) quietly had one of the best performances on opening night, grabbing a 123-97 blowout victory over the Orlando Magic. This Spurs team had some meager expectations this year, but this new core is nothing to sleep on. Dejounte Murray has developed into one of the best two-way guards in the NBA, while Derrick White and Jakob Poeltl look like breakout candidates as well. It remains to be seen who else will step up, but players like Devil Vassell, Lonnie Walker, and Keldon Johnson all have that ability. Getting an easy win over Orlando is nothing to write home about, though, and it'll be interesting to see how they look here against one of the most formidable opponents in the NBA.

The Nuggets (1-0) looked lost in the first half of their opener against the Phoenix Suns, but something changed in the final seconds of that half. They actually closed that quarter on an 8-0 run across the last 45 seconds and went on to ride a 59-40 second half to a comeback victory. They were down by 16 points when that second-quarter run started, and it's a testament to how much this team has grown over recent years. The best part about that comeback was seeing Will Barton and Aaron Gordon step up. We all know that Nikola Jokic will provide his ridiculous averages, but seeing those guys play so well in the absence of Jamal Murray is a great sign going forward.

Denver won the season series over San Antonio last year and have won five of their last six games over them in total. With that said, the Spurs have dominated this series historically, owning a 119-73 record against them.