Denver, CO

Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

Published

12 months ago

December 22, 2024

Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.

The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.

It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.

Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.

A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.

Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.

What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.

The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.

Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.

Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns

The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.

Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.

Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.

Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT

In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.

Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.

Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.

Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.

Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns

Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.

Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.

The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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Denver, CO

Where do Packers stand in NFC playoff picture after loss in Denver?

Published

8 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Where do Packers stand in NFC playoff picture after loss in Denver?

The Green Bay Packers (9-4-1) dropped from first to second in the NFC North and from the second seed to the seventh seed in the NFC after losing to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Significant injuries suffered against the Broncos will mean lasting implications are felt past Sunday. The Packers are also now a long shot to catch the Los Angeles Rams for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and it’ll take a win next Saturday night in Chicago to retake control in the NFC North.

But the Packers are still in a good spot in terms of making the postseason field, especially after the Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys all lost on Sunday.

NFC playoff picture after Week 15

Los Angeles Rams (11-3, 6-3 vs. NFC)
Chicago Bears (10-4, 6-3 vs. NFC)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-5, 7-3 vs. NFC)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7, 5-5 vs. NFC)
Seattle Seahawks (11-3, 6-3 vs. NFC)
San Francisco 49ers (10-4, 8-2 vs. NFC)
Green Bay Packers (9-4-1, 7-2-1 vs. NFC)

Others: Lions (8-6), Panthers (7-7), Cowboys (6-7-1)

According to The Athletic’s NFL playoff simulator, the Packers have a 92 percent chance of making the postseason with three weeks to go. They become all but guaranteed of a playoff spot if they can beat the Bears in Chicago in Week 16. In fact, just one win over the final three weeks could be enough for the Packers to get in.

The NFC North winner looks like a coinflip. The Athletic’s model gives the Packers a 48 percent chance of winning the division right now, and it would go up to 82 percent with a win over the Bears on Saturday. Chicago took down the Cleveland Browns with ease in bitter cold temps at Soldier Field on Sunday.

The Athletic’s model also gives the Packers a 98 percent chance of being the No. 2 seed if Matt LaFleur’s team can win out. That will be much easier said than done without Micah Parsons (and potentially Christian Watson) down the stretch.

Two very possibilities for the Packers: Win the NFC North and host the Bears in the NFC Wild Card Round, or get in as the No. 7 seed and go to Chicago to play the Bears in the NFC Wild Card Round. A third round of the rivalry is increasingly possible in January.

Packers remaining games

Nothing easy here. The Bears, Ravens and Vikings all won Sunday. The Bears and Ravens won comfortably; the Vikings upset the Cowboys — who desperately needed to win — in Dallas. The Bears and Ravens are both playing to win division titles. The Vikings are a dangerously talented spoiler team, and winning at U.S. Bank Stadium is never easy. The Athletic’s model gives the Packers roughly a 40 percent chance of making the postseason even with an 0-3 finish. The Lions are the biggest threat to pass the Packers in the event they finish 0-3.

It appears the Packers can clinch a playoff spot next week with a win over the Bears and a Steelers win over the Lions.

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Denver, CO

Packers vs. Broncos Week 15 Game Discussion Thread

Published

20 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Packers vs. Broncos Week 15 Game Discussion Thread

It’s time for the AFC’s #1 team to meet the NFC’s #2. Today the Denver Broncos host the Green Bay Packers in a key late-season inter-conference matchup that could have playoff seeding implications for both teams.

In Denver, the Broncos will be trying to hold on to the top spot in the AFC and keep their impressive win streak rolling. Denver has won ten straight games, some of them in fairly ridiculous fashion, but they sit at 11-2, sharing the top record in the NFL with the New England Patriots, who are just behind them in the playoff picture based on conference record.

The Packers, meanwhile, want to hold on to the lead in the NFC North before they have their rematch with the Chicago Bears next Saturday night. Green Bay sits behind only the Los Angeles Rams in the playoff race in the NFC, and they want to return to the Central time zone with that lead intact.

Join us here at Acme Packing Company to discuss today’s game, and Go Pack Go!

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Denver, CO

Denver hosts Houston on 4-game home skid

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Houston Rockets (16-6, third in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (18-6, second in the Western Conference)

Denver; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Denver hosts Houston looking to end its four-game home slide.

The Nuggets are 13-5 in conference games. Denver averages 125.5 points while outscoring opponents by 9.6 points per game.

The Rockets are 9-5 in Western Conference play. Houston is fifth in the NBA scoring 120.6 points per game while shooting 48.6%.

The Nuggets’ 13.5 made 3-pointers per game this season are only 0.8 more made shots on average than the 12.7 per game the Rockets give up. The Rockets average 120.6 points per game, 4.7 more than the 115.9 the Nuggets give up.

The teams meet for the second time this season. In the last meeting on Nov. 22 the Nuggets won 112-109 led by 34 points from Nikola Jokic, while Reed Sheppard scored 27 points for the Rockets.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jokic is averaging 29.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and 10.9 assists for the Nuggets. Hunter Tyson is averaging 2.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Alperen Sengun is averaging 23 points, 9.4 rebounds, seven assists and 1.5 steals for the Rockets. Amen Thompson is averaging 20.0 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 126.7 points, 41.4 rebounds, 30.3 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 53.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.8 points per game.

Rockets: 7-3, averaging 115.7 points, 47.2 rebounds, 24.8 assists, 9.3 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.0 points.

INJURIES: Nuggets: Christian Braun: out (ankle), Aaron Gordon: out (hamstring), Julian Strawther: day to day (back).

Rockets: Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Dorian Finney-Smith: out (ankle), Tari Eason: out (oblique).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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