The Denver Nuggets play host to the Miami Heat at Ball Arena on Thursday.

The Heat (33-25) are one of the scariest teams in the NBA right now, entering this matchup winning nine of their last 11 games. What's scary is that they did most of that damage with a shorthanded roster, missing Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier and Tyler Herro for most of that. Herro is the only guy who remains out, and there's some thought he could remain here. That's bad news for the rest of the NBA because Miami always seems to do this at the end of the season. They finished eighth in the Eastern Conference last year, but they made it all the way to the NBA Finals. No one is counting them out to do that again because this is an even better roster than the one we saw last season.

The Nuggets (40-19) are also one of the hottest teams in the NBA, entering this matchup winning four straight games. Nikola Jokic has been playing at a different level in that span, posting triple-double averages in that winning streak. He's well on his way to a third MVP in four years, and not enough people talk about how truly dominant this big man is. He's not the only reason this team is successful, though, because Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray are underrated assets as well. That's why this team is the defending champs, and they're likely the favorites once again despite sitting third in the Western Conference. They're only two games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves in first, and this is a team no one wants to see finish first behind their 23-5 home record.

Denver won both of their games over Miami last season and won the NBA Finals in five games. If you include that series, the Nuggets have won 10 of their last 11 games over the Heat in total.