The NBA has rescheduled Denver’s postponed game in Memphis for March 18, adding a league-leading 17th back-to-back to the Nuggets’ regular season.
The Nuggets were supposed to face the Grizzlies on Sunday afternoon, but the game was called off about three hours before tip due to inclement weather. The Nuggets spent three nights in Memphis, two more than they originally planned.
March 18 is sandwiched in the middle of a three-game homestand for the Nuggets, who will now fly to Memphis after hosting the 76ers on March 17. They’ll lose an hour going to central time for the second game of the back-to-back. Then they’re off March 19 before two more home games.
The Grizzlies don’t play on March 17. They were originally scheduled to host New York on March 18, but that game has now been moved to April 1 to make room for the Nuggets to visit.
Denver is 6-3 when playing on the second night of a back-to-back so far this season, with another coming up Friday against the Clippers. Now that another has been added in Memphis, the Nuggets are slated to play seven back-to-backs from the start of February through the end of the season, with six of them split between two different cities.
The postponement was also potentially fortuitous for the Nuggets, however, in that they were going to be without Nikola Jokic and several other rotation players last Sunday if the game had been played then.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t (rescheduled for) an extra day of the All-Star break,” coach David Adelman said, referring to the possibility that the game could have been moved to Feb. 12 after a home game against the Grizzlies. “That was the big worry from the coaches and the players, that they would make us go down there and lose a day of the break. We’re used to back-to-backs. Losing the hour will be tough. … But at least we get the hour flying back.”
