October 29, 2026
October 29, 2026
Denver Nuggets 2025-26 Season: Brilliance, Injuries and a Bitter Exit
The Denver Nuggets’ 2025-26 season carried the weight of a reset and the burden of a superstar’s prime. A new head coach, a reshaped rotation and Nikola Jokic at the height of his powers pushed Denver to 54 wins. The campaign delivered history on Christmas Day, a first All-Star nod for Jamal Murray and a 12-game surge to close the year. It ended instead in a six-game first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a result that stung precisely because so much had gone right before April.
Denver entered the summer knowing the old formula had run its course. The front office, now led jointly by Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace after Calvin Booth’s dismissal, moved quickly. Michael Porter Jr. was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Cameron Johnson, a sharper fit as a floor-spacing forward. Days later, Dario Saric was sent to Sacramento for veteran center Jonas Valanciunas, giving Jokic a reliable backup at last.
The bench gained familiar faces and proven shooters. Bruce Brown returned on a one-year deal, bringing back a key piece of the 2023 title team. Tim Hardaway Jr. signed to add scoring punch off the bench. Russell Westbrook and DeAndre Jordan departed, and the roster suddenly looked deeper than any Jokic had worked with in years.
David Adelman had already steered the club through the 2025 postseason after Michael Malone’s abrupt firing. The interim tag came off in May 2025, and the 2025-26 campaign became his first full season in charge. His mandate was clear. Keep the offense flowing through Jokic, spread the burden more evenly and build a group sturdy enough to survive the long grind.
The early returns were emphatic. Denver seized 10 of its first 12 games, and the offense hummed from the opening tip. The Nuggets would finish the regular season leading the league in offensive rating, a tribute to the system Adelman inherited and refined.
Christmas Day turned into one of the great individual nights in league history. Against Minnesota, Jokic poured in 56 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and handed out 15 assists. Denver clawed out a 142-138 overtime win, and no player had ever produced a game of that scale. The statistics on Basketball Reference show how far above the field he stood that night.
Four days later, the season tilted. Jokic suffered a bone bruise in his left knee and missed 16 straight games, the longest absence of his career. Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson also lost significant time during the year. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson each battled two separate hamstring strains. The depth built over the summer was tested far sooner than anyone expected. Without its engine, Denver leaned on Murray, Johnson and Valanciunas to keep the season from slipping. That stretch proved the offseason moves had been about more than shooting. They were about survival.
Jokic returned and resumed his assault on the record book. He averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists, leading the league in both rebounds and assists. No player had ever done that while averaging a triple-double in back-to-back seasons. He finished second in MVP voting behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his sixth straight top-two finish.
The defining subplot of the Nuggets’ 2025-26 season belonged to Jamal Murray. After years of playoff heroics without regular-season recognition, he finally broke through. Murray earned his first All-Star selection in his ninth season, a moment Fox Sports noted he learned about through a video call from friends. Jokic was voted a starter, making them the first Denver teammates chosen together since Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups in 2010.
Murray carried that form deep into spring. He averaged 25.4 points and 7.1 assists across 75 games, both career highs. On March 27 against Utah, he passed Porter for the franchise’s single-season record for made three-pointers. He finished with 245, a number that captured how completely his game had expanded.
Denver saved its best basketball for the final month. Beginning on March 20, the Nuggets reeled off 12 straight wins to close the regular season. That run tied the second-longest regular-season streak in franchise history and stood as the longest of the Jokic and Murray era. A playoff berth was locked up on March 31, the club’s eighth consecutive postseason trip.
The Nuggets finished 54-28, second in the Northwest Division behind Oklahoma City and third in the Western Conference. Their 26 road wins nearly matched their home total. Momentum seemed fully on Denver’s side entering a first-round matchup with sixth-seeded Minnesota. The pairing carried history, too. It was the third playoff meeting between the clubs in four seasons, and the rivalry had grown sharper each time.
Game 1 went to form. Denver held on for a 116-105 win at Ball Arena, stretching its winning streak to 13 games. That made it the second-longest run in franchise history when counting the playoffs.
Game 2 became the Nuggets’ 2025-26 season in miniature. Denver raced to a 44-25 first-quarter lead. Minnesota answered, and only Murray’s 51-foot buzzer-beater tied the game at 64 at the half. With 19 seconds left and Denver trailing 115-114, Braun stepped to the line for two free throws. He made one of them. The Timberwolves closed it out 119-114, and Jokic and Murray managed just four combined points on 2-of-12 shooting in the fourth quarter. Minnesota won the second-chance battle 20-3, a warning sign that never went away.
The series unraveled in Minneapolis. Denver was held under 100 points in both Game 3 and Game 4, falling 113-96 and 112-96. Rudy Gobert’s length bothered Jokic, and Jaden McDaniels hounded Murray at every turn. Game 4 also turned ugly late, with a dustup involving Jokic leading to ejections and fines. Aaron Gordon’s calf injury cost Denver its most physical forward, and Watson missed the entire series with a hamstring strain.
Facing elimination at home, Denver refused to fold. Jokic delivered 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in a 125-113 Game 5 win, his 23rd career playoff triple-double. Spencer Jones, starting for Gordon, scored 20 points and caught fire in the fourth quarter. Minnesota was playing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, and the door to a comeback cracked open.
It slammed shut two nights later. Minnesota led 57-50 at halftime of Game 6 and held on behind 32 points from McDaniels. Jokic scored 28 with 10 assists, but Murray went just 4-of-17 from the floor. The 110-98 defeat marked Denver’s first opening-round exit since 2022. A team that had entered the 2026 NBA playoffs as one of the league’s hottest was gone before May. For the first time in four years, the Nuggets would not play a second-round game.
The Nuggets’ 2025-26 season will be remembered as a year of individual brilliance that never became collective triumph. Jokic was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Murray earned Third Team honors, the first time the pair were recognized together. The NBA’s official All-NBA announcement confirmed what fans had watched all year. Denver’s two stars had never been better at the same time.
That is exactly what made the ending so painful. Rebounding and ball security failed in the moments that mattered most. Adelman took responsibility, and Jokic publicly defended his coach. The three-time MVP also made his commitment plain, saying he still wanted to be a Nugget forever. He became eligible for a maximum contract extension that summer, and his words settled the question every Denver fan feared most.
For the fanbase, the lesson was unmistakable. Health and depth decide championships as much as genius does. The Denver Nuggets left the 2025-26 campaign with a superstar still in his prime and a backcourt partner at his peak. They also left with a clear mandate to build a roster capable of protecting that window before it closes.
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