Division rival, Western Conference favorite highlight Nuggets' preseason schedule

Five months after the Nuggets’ and Trail Blazers’ emotional seven-game Western Conference semifinals series concluded, Denver and Portland will renew the burgeoning Northwest Division rivalry this preseason.

Two of the Nuggets’ four games on their preseason schedule released Tuesday come against Portland. Denver will open its preseason slate on Oct. 8 in Portland at Veterans Memorial Coliseum and close the four-game exhibition schedule at Pepsi Center on Oct. 17 which is also the Nuggets’ lone home game of the 2019-20 preseason.

Altitude TV will televise two of the four preseason games — Oct. 14 against the Suns and Oct. 17 versus the Trail Blazers — and all four preseason games will air live on Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 FM/950 AM.

The Nuggets will also visit the new-look Los Angeles Clippers, who acquired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George this summer and are currently pegged as the favorite in the Western Conference, as well as the Phoenix Suns.

Michael Porter Jr., who missed the Las Vegas Summer League with a knee injury but is expected to be healthy for training camp, will likely make his highly-anticipated Nuggets’ debut in Portland. As will Jerami Grant, who the Nuggets acquired in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.