The Denver Nuggets’ schedule was released in full on Thursday ahead of the 2025-26 season, and there are nine matchups every basketball fan in Colorado should circle.

The Nuggets reloaded this offseason — focusing on depth, shooting and defense. They traded Michael Porter Jr. for Cameron Johnson, swapped Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas and then signed Bruce Brown Jr. and Tim Hardaway Jr. All moves that significantly shored up the team for the long haul in the regular season and to allow more bodies to get on the floor in the playoffs. Those four will be huge, given Denver’s tough schedule of many back-to-back games and other challenges.

Not every game will matter, even if they all do in the standings. Ahead of the season tip, these are nine games that should end up being must-see, meaningful tests for the Nuggets in the coming season. Or maybe there’s just some connection that’s core to Colorado. Of course, a few more big-time games will pop up, especially later on, but any 82-game NBA season ends up coming down to some big games along the way.

Oct. 23 AT Golden State

Opening Night is always worth a watch for your favorite team, and this game should feature three new players making their Nuggets debuts. They’ll take on the Warriors, who also lost in the second round of last year’s playoffs after an insanely hot close to the season. The Nuggets only played the Warriors after their massive trade deadline overhaul once, and it was in Michael Malone’s penultimate game as things were crashing for Denver. Golden State won that game and barely lost after pairing Jimmy Butler with Steph Curry.

The team by the bay has had a quiet offseason, but should be in the mix for the postseason. Plus, there’s been some back and forth with Nikola Jokic and Steve Kerr over the years.

Nov. 28 vs San Antonio

The Black Friday bout is the first matchup of the season between the Spurs and Nuggets. San Antonio is expected to take a massive leap forward this year, with De’Aaron Fox settled, reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle in Year 2, No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper joining and the third year of star Victor Wembanyama. Wemby is the only player in the league who has bothered Jokic, and every time these two are on the floor together, it’s a pleasure. The game is the first of a back-to-back for the Nuggets.

Dec. 20 vs Houston

The Rockets at +850 are one of the five teams with real championship odds going into the camp again. Houston added several veterans to a team that finished second-best in the West last year at 52 wins — and that’s before mentioning they won the offseason by trading for superstar forward Kevin Durant without giving up much of note. This is their lone visit to Colorado, though they’re both in West Group C for NBA Cup, and another matchup could happen depending on how that plays out.

Dec. 25 vs Minnesota

The Nuggets are once again playing on the NBA’s premier day, and this time they meet their biggest current rivals. Minnesota has beaten the Nuggets six straight times, with a blowout win in Game 6 of Round 2 in the 2024 playoffs, followed by their historic Game 7 comeback. Then they swept Denver during the 2024-25 regular season. Among those four games were two blowout wins for the T-Wolves and multiple double-digit fourth-quarter leads blown, including maybe the most painful loss of last 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.

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 Suns’ game in 2022 was one of the best regular-season contests in Ball Arena history, featuring a massive Aaron Gordon dunk to give the Nuggets an overtime win — that also tipped at 8:30 local.

Jan. 29 vs Brooklyn

The Nets are not good, but this game will feature Porter’s scheduled return to Denver. The forward has played every game of his NBA career for the Nuggets and was traded for Johnson this summer. MPJ won a title in Denver and ranks second in career 3-pointers made, second in playoff rebounds, third in playoff blocks, third in playoff minutes played, fifth in playoff steals and sixth in playoff points.

There is a slight chance that he’s traded before this game, with the deadline coming a week later and Porter only having a year plus a player option left on his deal. This game is also the first of a home back-to-back and three games in four nights, so the Nuggets may not be trying that hard. This date makes the list purely for the emotional aspect.

Feb. 1 vs Oklahoma City

The last of those three games in four days at home is a date everyone in Denver should have circled. This is the first time the Nuggets will meet the Thunder in 2025-26 after being bounced by OKC in Game 7 of Round 2 this spring. The Thunder chugged to their first-ever championship and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander claimed MVP and Finals MVP en route.

The Nuggets will play the Thunder four times in the last 10 weeks of the season, meaning the West may be won — as well as the MVP — in this quartet of games.

This will also be a proof of concept for the Nuggets’ offseason to see how it stacks up against OKC and one last test to see if Denver needs any other tweaks with the trade deadline looming days later.

Feb. 9 vs Cleveland

The best team in the East last year during the regular season, it’s hard to see the Cavs doing anything but running away with the conference this season. The weakened side of the NBA will allow the Cavs to get fat in the win column, and they’re very good, too. In fact, this possible NBA Finals preview might represent the toughest position-to-position matchup for the Nuggets. The Cavs can actually match the Nuggets’ size and have firepower at the guard spots to overwhelm Denver. This should be a great game.

March 17 vs Philadelphia

Joel Embiid refuses to play in Denver, but if he actually does play — which is very unlikely — this becomes a must-see game. Embiid has only twice played the Nuggets in Colorado in his career. He always finds a way to dodge the annual matchup. So much so that the game has been demoted from Rivals Week to a Tuesday, not on national TV opposite the NCAA Tournament’s First Four.

Embiid, when healthy, and Jokic are the two best centers in the NBA. The two’s fight for MVPs was a big storyline earlier in this decade. The fans have been robbed of this game for years, maybe this year — with no hype — we finally get it.

April 10 vs OKC

In each of the last two seasons, the Nuggets’ seeding for the playoffs has come down to the final days, with Game 81 being huge both times. This year, that game is at home against the reigning champs, who very well could be fighting directly with Denver for the top of the West. This game could be fireworks, or if both teams have locked in their position, an absolute snoozer, as they don’t show their hands ahead of the playoffs.