The Denver Nuggets 17 back-to-backs were the most in the NBA this season.

Luckily, or because they have great resolve, Denver went 11-6 in the second night of back-to-backs.

But why did Denver have five more games on consecutive nights than the champion Thunder?

Denver Nuggets 17 back-to-backs were most in NBA

On Wednesday night, the Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 142-135 with a spectacular performance from Jamal Murray (53 points) and Nikola Jokic (23-21-19).

It was the 17th and final back-to-back for Denver, who finds themselves in the middle of a playoff positioning battle, with eight games to play.

The Nuggets are currently a half game behind the Lakers in third, and a half game ahead of the Timberwolves in fifth.

Despite all their injury trouble this year and the inconsistency it brought, Denver went an impressive 11-6 in the second night of back-to-back games. It was the sixth-best win percentage (.647) in such games.

But why did Denver have so many games on consecutive nights?

The NBA schedule makers originally had the Nuggets leading the league, but tied with four other teams. Then, because of the freak blizzard in Memphis in late January, Denver had to add yet another back-to-back, traveling to and losing to the tanking team.

NBA needs to schedule better for contenders

What one notices when looking at the back-to-backs is the other teams that were tied with the Nuggets weren’t contenders.

They were: The Hornets, 76ers, Wizards, and Suns.

As we sit currently, those teams are 7th and 9th, respectively in each conference. They’re not true contenders for a title.

Meanwhile, the champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Boston Celtics, and Minnesota Timberwolves were tied for the fewest back-to-backs with 13. And the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Detroit Pistons had 14 of them scheduled.

The league average was 14.4 back-to-backs.

But, what I don’t get is why the Nuggets, who were within one game of making the NBA Finals last year, were tied for the most with middling teams.

The NBA has to know forcing teams to play back-to-back games—especially ones in which they have to travel after the first game—is basically a punishment.

So, why force one of the handful of legitimate contenders to play more of them than anyone else?

Also consider that there are no back-to-backs in the NBA playoffs. Why is that?

Probably because teams on the second night of a back-to-back are tired, and that results in poor gameplay. Specifically, when a team is tired their defense is the first thing to go.

We saw that last night from Denver, who let the lowly Mavs put 135 points up on them. Yes, the Nuggets are 21st in points per game allowed, but there’s less energy to pull from on the second night of a back-to-back.

Denver also allowed Dallas to score 131 on them in a similar situation earlier in the year, and 142 in the blowout loss to the Knicks which was New York’s third-highest score of the season.

Simply, the NBA needs to schedule better for the true contenders.

We’ve seen how the officials refuse to call fouls for Jokic when he’s getting mauled, and now there’s this scheduling stacked against Denver, too.

In the end, all they can do is use it as motivation and as a proving ground.

Thankfully, that’s the last back-to-back for Denver this season. Now in the stretch run, Denver’s caught fire on a four-game win streak.