Takeaways from the Nuggets 2021-’22 schedule release

After spending two seasons playing in pandemic conditions, the Denver Nuggets and the NBA are finally set to resume an 82-game schedule.

On Friday, the Nuggets released their official slate for the 2021-’22 season, and there’s certainly a lot to unpack.

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Home Cooking

The Denver Nuggets will not only start their season with a bundle of home games but also wrap it up that way as well.

Denver will play 10 of their first 16 games at home to tip off the season, including matchups against the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs in their home opener on Oct. 22.

With a home-heavy final stretch, the Nuggets will play 13 of their final 20 games at Ball Arena, which includes four of five games in April.

Denver will have three homestands of three-or-more games in the final two months of the season and will finish the year with eight of their final 11 games in front of their home crowd, including the season finale against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 10.

The Nuggets longest homestand of the season spans 11 days, in which they’ll play six games from Jan. 13-23. They have eight total games at home in January.

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A Long December

Technically, Denver’s longest road trip kicks off on Nov. 29, but it runs seven games through Dec. 11.

The Nuggets have just four home games in December, compared to 11 away, and they face a stretch through the beginning of the new year where they play 14 of 18 games on the road.

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Prime Time

Denver will appear on national television 14 times over the season, including five games on TNT, eight on ESPN, and one on ABC.

Among the prime time games the Nuggets will appear in is against the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns to open the season on Oct. 20.

The team will not play on Christmas Day, however, which StatMuse says is the first time since the NBA went to five games on the holiday in 2008 that the reigning MVP (Nikola Jokic) will not play on that day.

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