Nuggets to host a familiar foe at Ball Arena on Christmas

The NBA announced on Friday that the Denver Nuggets would be playing on Christmas for the fourth consecutive year at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

Aug 8, 2025, 4:28 PM

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Merry Christmas, Nuggets Nation!

To celebrate most wonderful time of the year, Nuggets fans will get to watch their team take on their kryptonite, the Minnesota Timberwolves, at Ball Arena. This will be the fourth consecutive year that the Nuggets will play on Christmas, and the fifth time in six years. The only year this decade that they didn’t play on Christmas was 2021.

In four Christmas games this decade, Denver has posted a 2-2 record. They lost to the Clippers in 2020, beat the Suns in 2022 and the Warriors in 2023, and lost to the Suns in 2024.

The Wolves have beaten the Nuggets six straight times, with a blowout win in Game 6, their historic Game 7 comeback and then a sweep of Denver during the 2024-25 regular season. Among those four games were two blowout wins for the T-Wolves and double-digit fourth-quarter leads blown, including maybe the most painful loss of the year coming in double overtime and leading directly to the firing of Michael Malone.

That last contest also featured Nikola Jokic’s historic 60-point triple double, a feat that is not going to get the recognition it deserves down the line because there’s an L on the stat sheet thanks to the antics of Russell Westbrook.

The rest of the Christmas slate includes some great matchups as the NBA tries to keep what was once its signature holiday away from the sports giant that is the NFL.

The official 2025 NFL + NBA Christmas Day schedule 🎄:

NFL:
•Lions at Vikings
•Cowboys at Commanders
•Broncos at Chiefs

NBA:
•Cavaliers at Knicks
•Spurs at Thunder
•Rockets at Lakers
•Mavericks at Warriors
•Timberwolves at Nuggets pic.twitter.com/bx3X6uH9SE

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 8, 2025

No time has been set for the Nuggets game, but it will likely be at 8:30 p.m. MDT (realistically more like 8:45 p.m.) and televised on ESPN, the same as every other late slot Christmas game they’ve played in at home. The only time the last three years they didn’t play in that slot was against the Warriors in 2023, as that game tipped off from Ball Arena at 12:30 p.m. MDT.

For fans of all Denver sports teams, this will be more fuel to the fire on what should already be a stressful day sports-wise, as the Broncos travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs just over two hours before the Nuggets play (6:15 p.m. MDT kickoff). If the season pans out how many expect it to, that game should have some serious playoff implications.

Who doesn’t love a stress-filled Christmas?

The Nuggets are 3-7 all-time on Saint Nick’s day, while the Broncos are 2-2. The only time they’ve both played on Christmas together was 2022, when the Nuggets won a thriller over the Suns thanks to Aaron Gordon’s acrobatics while the Broncos suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats in franchise history.

AARON GORDON DUNK OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE

NUGGETS LEAD ON ABC/ESPN 😱#NBAXmas 🎄🎁 pic.twitter.com/n0jn4qqaiX

— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2022

Merry Christmas Rams fans!

Last Christmas Decobie Durant had 2 interceptions against the Broncos, one returned for TD.

The Rams have had an up and down season interchanging Kendrick and Durant opposite of Witherspoon. Durant seems to getting another opportunity at seasons end pic.twitter.com/xjcZUpWhfU

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) December 25, 2023

This time around, fans are hoping for a better outing from the orange and blue and a similar performance from the blue and gold.