Basketball Is Almost Back: Denver Nuggets 2018 Schedule Released
By Ryan Palmer
The Denver Nuggets need to win on the road.
The Denver Nuggets on the road weren’t exactly stellar last year. Their 15-26 record away from home wasn’t the worst in the Western Conference, but it certainly didn’t help them in a closely contested playoff race at the end of the season last year.
This year the Nuggets need to figure out the art of winning on the road and it looks like the schedule may be something that makes that task manageable for the Denver Nuggets. There are only five times where the Nuggets will play on the road more than two games in a row.
To help the Nuggets road schedule out, there are very few tough games coming at the back half of long road trips. That is not to say there are none. Some notable exceptions are a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 21st, a matchup on February 8th against the Philadelphia 76ers, and a March 8th game against the Golden State Warriors.
The Denver Nuggets matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves comes at the back of a three game road trip against three potentially tough teams in the New Orleans Pelicans, Milwaukee Bucks and the T’wolves. This will be the first road trip over two games so hopefully a fresh Denver Nuggets team can prevail.
The second tough matchup is going to be on February 8th against the 76ers. The meteoric rise of the 76ers last year is bound to continue through this season as the young team continues to tinker and get better with experience. This game also comes at the end of a 4 game road trip that starts with another trip to Minnesota. I expect the Nuggets to be tired.
The last extremely tough game at the end of a trip of 3 or more games comes on March 8th against the Golden State Warriors. This game may be one of the hardest games this season as it comes at the back of a 3 game road trip that starts in San Antonio, moves to Los Angeles against the Lakers, and then finally to Golden State. Facing the champions at home after a week rest is a Herculean task in itself. Hopefully the Nuggets have built a record by this point in the season that will be able to withstand these types of games in the back half of the season.
While I have optimistic hopes for the Denver Nuggets road schedule there is some room for concern besides what I’ve mentioned already. The Nuggets play 9 out of 11 games on the road between November 17th and December 8th. This is going to be a tough stretch with some hard teams played in that time. This will make the should be guaranteed wins seems like close games as well. The Nuggets need to buckle down through this stretch and play the best basketball they can muster.
The Denver Nuggets should show some improvement in the road win category. Or so I hope. The schedule will bring a few challenges along with some benefit. The Nuggets need to stay strong on the long trips and hopefully come home ready to play again.