Western Conference Top 4 January Schedules

The new year is a critical turning point in the NBA schedule as we approach the halfway point of the season in January, a few weeks before the actual All-Star Break. Here is a look at the schedules in January for the current top four teams in the Western Conference standings.

Oklahoma City Thunder: A record early-season pace has been stalled as the Thunder have lost four times in the past eight games since mid-December, with the Spurs providing three of those losses, though the NBA Cup Final does not count in the season record. The once insurmountable lead in the Western Conference standings has narrowed. January could provide a few more losses for the Thunder as Oklahoma City has road games with Golden State, Phoenix, Memphis, Houston, Miami, Cleveland, and Minnesota. The home schedule with the Thunder 16-1 at home on the season is mostly favorable in the next month but the Spurs will be visiting on January 13. The Thunder aren’t going anywhere as the team to beat in the West, but expect all talk of chasing 73-9 to be eliminated by the end of the month.

San Antonio Spurs: Beating Oklahoma City in back-to-back late December games put the Spurs squarely in the Western Conference spotlight but losing at home to Utah and Cleveland in the next two games shows that the Spurs still have some things to figure out to be a championship contender. January is not likely to provide the Spurs with an opportunity to close the gap with the Thunder. There is a tough mid-month stretch facing Boston, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City in three road games in four days. The Spurs are also playing at Houston twice in late January and will have home games with the Lakers and Wolves this month as well. In all the Spurs have eight games in January against the top handful of teams in the NBA for a difficult upcoming month. 

Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets had a great six-week run from early November to mid-December but Denver has lost four of the past six games heading towards the close of the 2025 calendar. January will continue a seven-game road trip with a few east coast games and tough tests in Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Boston early in the month. The rest of the January schedule is favorable for Denver to stay in the top three of the Western Conference standings. Eight of the final 13 games of January are at home and only two of those home games come against top six teams in either conference. After playing at Boston on January 7, the remaining five road games in January for the Nuggets are all against losing teams as Denver can establish itself as a serious Western Conference threat, having so far played a tougher schedule than Oklahoma City so far this season.

Houston Rockets: Houston is 20-10 overall with only 12 of 30 games played at home. The Rockets have played a tougher schedule than most top tier NBA teams at this point in the season and still sit in serious contention. January could be a great month for the Rockets with a relatively favorable schedule. There are two games with the Spurs and a game with the Thunder in January for Houston but all three of those games are at home. Six of eight road games in January are against losing teams and only a trip to Detroit late in the month looks overly demanding. The Rockets will also host Phoenix and Minnesota in January but overall it is a favorable path as the Rockets could climb in the standings by the end of the month.