Nuggets return to Christmas Day as part of 2024-25 regular-season schedule

The Denver Nuggets are playing on Christmas — again. Except this time, the Nuggets will have to go on the road.

Denver will head to Phoenix for the holidays to face the Suns in the nightcap of the NBA’s Christmas Day slate at 8:30 p.m. The game was revealed as part of the NBA’s 2024-25 regular-season schedule release on Thursday.

This marks the third year in a row that the Nuggets will play on Christmas — a day generally reserved for the NBA’s marquee franchises — and third time in four years. In all three previous instances, the Nuggets hosted the game.

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets will be featured on 22 nationally broadcast games on ABC, ESPN and TNT, including the season opener on TNT against Oklahoma City on Oct. 24, at Ball Arena. The Thunder and Nuggets finished with the top two seeds in the Western Conference last year.

The Nuggets will begin the season with seven of their first 10 games at Ball Arena, including a five-game homestand Nov. 2-10 that includes another matchup with the Thunder. That will be followed by 11 of their next 14 away from Denver.

The schedule, of course, also includes the team’s four group games in the Emirates NBA Cup, previously known as the In-Season Tournament. Those dates had already been revealed earlier this summer: Nov. 15 at New Orleans, Nov. 19 at Memphis, Nov. 22 vs. Dallas and Dec. 3 vs. Golden State. The semifinals and finals of the NBA Cup will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 14, and Dec. 17, respectively.

Here’s the complete schedule:

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