The 10 most anticipated games from the first half of the Nuggets' schedule

The Nuggets’ first preseason game is in eight days. Denver’s first regular season game is in a little over two weeks. Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ first group practice isn’t until this Sunday.

The NBA regular season is coming, and it’s coming fast. The league released the first half of each team’s regular season schedule Friday.

Why only the first half? With the potential for games to be cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID-19, the NBA wants to have as much flexibility at the mid-way point of the season to potentially make up games.

Make sure to circle these 10 games from the first half of the Nuggets’ regular season.

10. Sunday, Jan. 3 | Nuggets at Timberwolves

Who knows what Malik Beasley’s status will be for this matchup since he’ll reportedly be facing a suspension stemming from his September arrest. But fresh off signing a four-year, $60 million extension with Minnesota, I’m setting the over-under on his total shot attempts at 25.5 if Beasley does suit up. And I’ll take the over. Former Nuggets Juancho Herangomez and Jarred Vanderbilt are still under contract in Minnesota too, and Vanderbilt could also be in the Timberwolves’ rotation this season. For the record, I’m still holding property on Vando island.

9. Thursday, Feb. 25 | Nuggets vs. Wizards

By the time February rolls around, Bradley Beal could be back on the trade block when the Wizards make their lone trip to Denver this season, a month before the rumored March 25th trade deadline. Denver has had interest in Beal before and will certainly keep tabs on how that situation develops throughout the season. If the Nuggets are thinking about making a play for Beal, this is their chance to make a lasting impression on the two-time All-Star. Feb. 25 would be a good morning to announce plans for a new practice facility in Denver.

8. Friday, Jan. 1 | Nuggets vs. Suns

This is Nuggets’ first look at a revamped Suns team that Denver could be jockeying for position with in the West all season. It’s also a key conference game early in the year considering the Nuggets have a cruel road back-to-back in Phoenix scheduled for Jan. 22 and 23. Jamal Murray will see a lot of Chris Paul over the first half of the season. Fortunately for Denver, that means Nikola Jokic will also see a lot of Deandre Ayton.

7. Thursday, Jan. 14 | Nuggets vs. Warriors (TNT)

The Warriors might have the most volatility of any potential Western Conference playoff team this year. If Steph Curry and Draymond Green pop and Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins turn out to be quality supporting pieces, Golden State could be a mid-tier playoff team. If they don’t, the West is so competitive that it could eat the Warriors up and spit them right back out into the lottery. This is Denver’s only matchup against Golden State over the first half of the regular season and it comes early enough to where the Warriors should be competitive. Expect a big game from Murray who loves going up against Curry, his favorite current player.

6. Monday, Feb. 1 | Nuggets vs. Pistons

Jerami Grant returns to Denver at the start of February and gets the Nuggets with his former team on a back-to-back. Denver hosts Utah for a 1:30 p.m. matinee before taking on the Pistons one night later. My predicted stat line for Grant: 23 points (8-25 FG’s) in a 20-point Pistons loss.

5. Thursday, Feb. 4 | Nuggets at Lakers (TNT)

The Nuggets face their recent Western Conference Finals opponent twice over the first half of the regular season, once at home and once on the road. How do the new-look Lakers without Dwight Howard but with Marc Gasol match up with Jokic? How will the Lakers guard the Murray-Jokic-Michael Porter Jr. trio if Porter proves he’s up to speed once this matchup rolls around? The storylines are endless.

4. Tuesday, Feb. 23 | Nuggets vs. Blazers (TNT)

The Nuggets and Blazers meet twice in the preseason but don’t face off against one another for real until late-February. We should know if Portland is legit by then. The Blazers had a strong offseason and brought in Robert Covington and Enes Kanter while retaining both Rodney Hood and Carmelo Anthony. Portland will at least start the season with a healthy Jusuf Nurkic and Zac Collins too. With Nurkic, Kanter, Hood, Anthony, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum all in Portland two seasons removed from the Nuggets and Blazers’ 2019 playoff series, this matchup has a ton of juice to it.

3. Thursday, Jan. 7 | Nuggets vs. Mavs (TNT)

Last year’s Serbian Orthodox Christmas fell on Jan. 6. The Nuggets played the Hawks in Atlanta that night and Jokic set a new career high with 47 points. This year, Serbian Christmas falls on Jan. 7 when Denver is scheduled to host Luka Doncic and the Mavs in its second nationally televised game. Something memorable will happen in this game, mark my words. The NBA suspended its season at halftime of Denver and Dallas’ last matchup back on March 11. Two months earlier, the Nuggets beat the Mavs on a Jokic buzzer-beater. Expect fireworks.

2. Sunday, Jan. 17 | Nuggets vs. Jazz

Somehow this game didn’t get the national TV treatment, but it’s Denver and Utah’s first matchup since last year’s memorable first-round series. Both teams are running back a lot of their same rosters. We’ll get Murray vs. Donovan Mitchell and Jokic vs. Rudy Gobert. But also potentially Will Barton vs. Bojan Bogdanovic, both of whom didn’t play in last year’s series due to injury. There’s new blood on both sides too. Utah brought back Derrick Favors, who will provide another sturdy body for Jokic to go up against. For the Nuggets, Facu Campazzo will add a new dynamic to Denver’s backcourt that the Jazz didn’t see last year. This one should be a doozy.

1. Friday, Dec. 25 | Nuggets vs. Clippers (ESPN)

The Nuggets are playing in their second-straight Christmas Day game, which alone is symbolic of high far this franchise has climbed over the last few seasons. Hopefully Denver comes out with a little more life than it showed on Christmas Day against the Pelicans last season when Michael Malone said his team simply didn’t play hard enough. This is a game the Clippers have circled after they blew a 3-1 lead in last year’s Western Conference semifinals. Marcus Morris (you’d think) certainly does. The Nuggets should too.