December Overview

The Nuggets finally get a break from nightly contests against Western Conference contenders, but the logistics of the December schedule are not kind to them. Five back-to-backs means that two-thirds of Denver’s December games will be involved in a back-to-back, not to mention each of these two-game stretches ends with a road matchup. The Nuggets also end the month (and begin the new year) with a brutal stretch of six games in nine days spanning from the Mid-West, to the Southwest, to the Northwest. The NBA may have emphasized more rest days in the schedule, but it’s not going to be evident to Nuggets fans to close out the 2015 portion of the season.

Total Games: 15

Home and Road: 6 and 9

Back-to-Backs: 5 (3 home-road, 2 road-road)

4-games-in-5-nights: 1

Games vs. over .500 teams: 6

Game-by-Game Projections (all times MST)

Game 1: Denver @ Chicago, 6:00 pm, Wednesday, December 2

It will take a mighty effort for the Nuggets to get back on track against the Bulls in Chicago. The only hope is that they come out flat after an emotional win over the Spurs two nights earlier. The Nuggets inability to score in the paint and stop opposing guards from penetrating doesn’t bode well against Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, not to mention Jimmy Butler looking to take Danilo Gallinari out of the equation. The losing streak continues into the new month.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (0-1) (6-13 overall)

Game 2: Denver @ Toronto, 5:30 pm, Thursday, December 3

Denver catches the Raptors at the perfect time to try to end their losing ways. Toronto takes on the Hawks in Atlanta the night before and has a date with the undefeated Warriors looming over the weekend, which puts the Nuggets in the perfect “trap game” position. Denver will be hungry for a win as well, so look for a surprise win over a talented team on the road in Toronto

Prediction: Nuggets win (1-1) (7-13 overall)

Game 3: Denver @ Philadelphia, 11:00 am, Saturday, December 5

The 76ers snapped their 28 game losing streak (dating back to last season) against the Lakers last night, 103-91, so the hunger of a winless team is now out the window for the Nuggets. Denver should be able to close out their five-game road trip with consecutive wins.

Prediction: Nuggets win (2-1) (8-13 overall)

Game 4: Denver vs. Orlando, 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 8

Orlando faces Denver on the fourth game of a five-game road trip and both teams will have had two full days of rest entering this one. The Magic have been a surprise in the East, coming into December with a 9-8 record. They’ve had a couple of impressive wins (Utah, Toronto), but overall haven’t been playing the same level of opponents as Denver, so look for the Nuggets to continue their winning ways and notch another W at the Pepsi Center.

Prediction: Nuggets win (3-1) (9-13 overall)

Game 5: Denver vs. Minnesota, 7:00 pm, Friday, December 11

This is the first of two matchups with the Wolves in a four day span and the Nuggets get this one at home. The Nuggets will have to find an answer for Karl Anthony-Towns to be competitive against the Wolves and unless Jusuf Nurkic makes a surprise early return, I don’t see that happening. The Timberwolves have been playing well to start the season and I expect that to continue into December.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (3-2) (9-14 overall)

Game 6: Denver vs. Houston, 7:00 pm, Monday, December 14

It’s the third and final matchup between Denver and Houston and the Rockets will do everything in their power to avoid a season sweep. The question is whether they actually have that power at this point in the season. Ty Lawson is exactly the type of guard that has been killing the Nuggets all year, but he has yet to show that he still has the ability to aggressively drive into the paint. I think it will be competitive, but I expect the Rockets to notch their first victory over the Nuggets in this one.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (3-3) (9-15 overall)

Game 7: Denver @ Minnesota, 6:00 pm, Tuesday, December 15

Here we go again! The Nuggets take on the Wolves, but in Minnesota this time. Minnesota may be looking ahead to their game in New York against the Knicks the next night, but unfortunately I just don’t think Denver matches up well with this up-and-coming team.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (3-4) (9-16 overall)

Game 8: Denver @ Utah, 7:00 pm, Friday, December 18

The Jazz have had ups and downs this year, and handled the Nuggets with a fourth quarter run that looked a lot like the ones we’ve from Denver opponents during the current losing streak. Both teams will be coming off of two full days of rest and the Nuggets game is sandwiched in between home games against New Orleans and Phoenix. While the Jazz have played well at times this season, I think the Nuggets will catch them napping and come away with a win.

Prediction: Nuggets win (4-4) (10-16 overall)

Game 9: Denver vs. New Orleans, 6:00 pm, Sunday, December 20

The Nuggets upended the Pelicans earlier in the year in one of their signature wins of the season thanks to a dominating performance from Danilo Gallinari (32 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds). A lot of Pelicans games will come down to the health of Anthony Davis, who left the previous game late with a shoulder injury, and that is no different here. It took half of the month of November for New Orleans to pick up their second win, but it did come against the Spurs, so they are a talented team and I don’t expect them to overlook the Nuggets after the drubbing they received in the first game.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (4-5) (10-17 overall)

Game 10: Denver vs. LA Lakers, 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 22

The Lakers are a mess this season and play the Nuggets in between a home-and-home series with the Thunder, so if there ever was a chance for an easy Nuggets win, this is it. Denver has had trouble getting for the games against the bottom of the standings so far though, so it’s not a sure thing. Overall I think the schedule and the fact that they simply have more talent will put the Nuggets back in the win column.

Prediction: Nuggets win (5-5) (11-17 overall)

Game 11: Denver @ Phoenix, 7:00 pm, Wednesday, December 23

In their last game before getting a couple days off for Christmas, the Nuggets get their third crack of the season at the Phoenix Suns. The Suns dominated the first two games with standout performances from their backcourt duo of Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, so the Nuggets will have to find a way to slow them down to have a chance here. There’s not much schedule-wise to affect either team, so it will be a good test to see how far the Nuggets have come since the first two match-ups and as the resident optimist of the Nuggets fan club, I’m going to predict that the team has developed enough to eke out a win in Phoenix.

Prediction: Nuggets win (6-5) (12-17 overall)

Game 12: Denver @ San Antonio, 6:30 pm, Saturday, December 26

Continuing the trend of playing teams for the third time of the year, the Nuggets take on the Spurs on the night after Christmas. It will be interesting to see how playing on Christmas Day affects the Spurs on the day after. On one hand, it’s the second night of a back-to-back, on the other hand, they’ll likely avoid the eating and distractions that come with being home for the holidays. Regardless of the schedule, it would take quite a bit for the Nuggets to overcome the talent and technique disparity between them and the spurs, so chalk up another loss.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (6-6) (12-18 overall)

Game 13: Denver @ Oklahoma City, 5:00 pm, Sunday, December 27

The Thunder are back at the top of there game and take on the Nuggets in a the middle of a four game homestand. They just have too much talent and the exact types of players that have given the Nuggets fits this year (penetrating guards, rim protection and good shooters). It would take a Christmas miracle to get a win against the Thunder here.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (6-7) (12-19 overall)

Game 14: Denver vs. Cleveland, 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 29

The good news is the Nuggets get to come home and play a team in the second night of a back-to-back, in fact it’s even the culminating game of a 4-in-5 stretch of road games, in the thin air of the Mile High City. The bad news is … that team has LeBron James. There will never be a better opportunity to beat a LeBron-led Cavs team, but unless there’s a significant Cavs injury and Bosnian Beast is back roaming the paint, I don’t think it will be happening here.

Prediction: Nuggets lose (6-8) (12-20 overall)

Game 15: Denver @ Portland, 8:00 pm, Wednesday, December 30

The Nuggets get to close out 2015 against a team in just as much disarray as they are in the Portland Trail Blazers. The Blazers advantage is that they have a guy with the ability to take over any game single-handedly, however he’s finding that harder to do without the right pieces around him (see Gallinari, Danilo – to a lesser extent). The Nuggets will have played the LeBrons the night before and Portland will be coming off a couple days of rest, but travelling to Utah to play on New Year’s Eve, so it’s hard to say which will have a bigger effect. In the end, look for the Nuggets to put together a run of basketball that will have us all dreaming of the good things to come in 2016 as they run the Trail Blazers off of their home court.

Prediction: Nuggets win (7-8) (13-21 overall)

Final Prediction for December: 7 wins, 8 losses (13-21 Overall)

The teams get easier, but the schedule gets harder. Seven wins in three fewer games would be a nice way to close out the year and gather some momentum for 2016. Hopefully the roster will be healthy at this point and we’ll really get to see who’s worth keeping around long-term as the rebuilding effort is now fully underway.