14 games in 29 days! The NBA schedule "devil arrangement" has caused another tragedy. The Nuggets are really tired and injured, causing the league to reflect on

"This is not a basketball game at all, but an endurance marathon!" When Nuggets core Aaron Gordon fell to the ground in pain while covering his hamstrings in the tiebreak, the commentator's roar expressed the voices of countless fans. In 29 days, 14 life-and-death battles, the NBA's "devil schedule" once again pushed the players to the limit. Behind this injury storm is the fierce collision between the cruel laws of the business league and the flesh and blood of athletes.

Gorden's injury was tragic - at the critical moment of the fourth quarter, he suddenly staggered during the confrontation, and his figure jumped to the sidelines with one leg was surprisingly similar to Curry's 2022 Finals. The "key gentleman" who played three finals in the playoffs was eventually defeated by the strangle of intensive schedules. Data shows that the Nuggets averaged more than 40 minutes of playing time for core players in the past month, and Westbrook only struggled to support the substitute, and the accumulation of fatigue broke out like a time bomb.

Gordon suffered a strained left hamstring, which is highly consistent with Curry's injury in 2022, and the latter missed five key games. The Nuggets completed 14 games across 4 time zones in 29 days, with an average of one high-intensity confrontation every 2 days, far exceeding the human recovery cycle. Gordon is not only Jokic's best partner, but also the Nuggets' "offensive and defensive conversion engine". His absence directly collapses the team's tactical axis. The complexity of NBA schedule design has long been an open secret. From stadium schedule conflicts (such as the Spurs were requisitioned at home by the Cowboys) to broadcasters’ prime time competition, the league has done its best in 1,230 regular season choreography. However, the "tie-seven series" of the playoffs exposed deeper contradictions:

Although the league has pushed back-to-back games from 20 games to 13 games in recent years, the intensity of the playoffs has increased exponentially, and the Nuggets' experience in 2025 has torn apart the fig leaf of "load management". With a 1,000-mile voyage from Denver to Minneapolis, the biological clock disorder of the eastern and western teams fighting across time zones is seriously underestimated. The monopoly of broadcasters such as TNT and ABC on the "prime time period" forced the team to start the game at 3 a.m., further overdraw the players' physical fitness.

When Gordon left the field in disgrace, the Timberwolves, who were waiting for it, had rested for 6 days. This is not accidental luck, but the necessity of the NBA's "winner-take-all" rule - higher-ranking teams are more likely to gain a schedule advantage. But the problem is:

• The Matthew effect is intensified: core players of strong teams consume more on the road to promotion, while the opponent "waits for work" with a complete lineup, forming a vicious cycle.

• Deep Crisis on the Bench: The Lakers, Warriors and other giants are also trapped in the quagmire of injuries due to excessive dependence on superstars. James' eight turnover nights this season are a painful footnote to fatigue.

When Gordon's leggings bandages become a dazzling warning for NBA schedule reform, we have to ask: Are athletes just pawns on the capital board in the carnival of ratings and sponsors? Perhaps as the fans said: "We want to see the ultimate, not the ultimate." Can this injury storm truly awaken the league's respect for "people"?

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