Denver is a team on the rise. Miami is a team on the decline. Look for that to play out in today's game.

The Heat will be missing key contributors Dion Waiters and Justice Winslow as they open a three-game road trip. Miami is 5-12 because its talent level is way down. Not having those two injured players further weakens the Heat.

Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic are the Heat's only two good players and both of them are dealing with injuries. Neither is 100 percent. The rest of the Heat players are backup quality.

The Nuggets, by contrast, are getting healthier. They are expected to get back Danilo Gallinari, their best offensive player, spark plug Will Barton and Juancho Hernangomez.

Denver's strength is its rebounding with big men Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nukic. This is going to be a tough matchup for Whiteside, who has a sore knee.

The Nuggets have had two days of rest and preparation. They have covered four of the past five times when having two days off. Denver has taken care of business at home recently. The Nuggets have defeated the Suns by 16 points, Jazz by 14 and Bulls by three while losing to the Raptors in overtime and Thunder in overtime during their past five home games.

The Heat are a much lesser foe than the Bulls, Raptors, Thunder and Jazz. So look for the Nuggets to follow their pattern and beat the Heat by a comfortable margin.