The Denver Nuggets play host to the Phoenix Suns at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

The Suns (42-30) have been a slight disappointment all season, and that really showed on Monday. They played a San Antonio Spurs team missing Victor Wembanyama and were unable to prevail. Jeramy Sochan and Devin Vassell killed them in that game, snapping a three-game winning streak by the Suns. It's hard to believe that this team is at 30 losses already with the talent they possess, but they've been middling all year. In any case, Phoenix is in a position to avoid the Play-In Tournament, which is the most important thing for this club right now. They are tied in seventh with the Dallas Mavericks and are only 0.5 games behind the Sacramento Kings in sixth. It'll be up to those three teams to decide who gets the final spot because the five-seed and nine-seed look out of reach for all of them.

The Nuggets (51-21) picked up an important win on Monday, beating the Memphis Grizzlies. That might not sound like anything special on the surface but they got that victory without Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. They also got Nikola Jokic some much-needed rest in the second half, beating Memphis by 25 points. That win has moved Denver up to the top spot in the Western Conference, sitting one game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets were the top seed when they went into the postseason last year when they took down the NBA Finals, and it's scary this team will get mostly home games in the playoffs. They are 29-6 at home this year and always use the altitude to their advantage.

These teams have split their two matchups this year, with the road team winning both matchups.