Along with that of the Boston game, this is likely one of the best "team" photos I've encountered.

If it weren't for that pesky draft pick, the outcome of this trade would still be very much in question.

Still keepin' the seat warm for The Anchorman.

Jurkic III

Pre-Game Thoughts: It appears I may have been on to something when I noticed in the last game that KAT does not like Jokic. It may or may not be about Big Honey necessarily but as illustrated by Adam Mares in the Denver Stiffs pre-game for this one, KAT takes games against Denver personally and he has "Backstory" that he didn't pontificate upon. You have a homework assignment: If anyone knows what he can be alluding to, I'd be very curious to know what his "backstory is" and if it indeed involves Jokic. Did they ever face off in international play perhaps? Maybe caught one of Jokic's famous "chicken wings?"

I'm coming out of retirement from the prediction game. I'm calling it now; this will be the first time that Jokic finally shows up to play vs his ex teammate Juka. Big Honey has had trouble getting up for the two previous meetings, but the Minnesota game likely left a bad taste in his mouth after amassing 10 turnovers and being thrown under the bus after the game, in comments by his head coach. Will this be what it takes for Jokic to finally come to play against the Bosnian Beast? He'd better because Juka CLEARLY has no trouble getting in gear to face his former team.

Portland will be without their best player Lillard tonight due to a left hamstring injury. Denver will definitely be without one of and possibly two of their top three, depending on if Harris is good to go or not. He was sorely missed vs Minnesota, as he was in the previous meeting vs PDX.

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And now what none of you come here for; how about some basketball nerdery?!?!

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Coach: Terry "Butters" Stotts

Denver Nuggets Roster

Coach: Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone

Update: Millsap had successful left wrist surgery and is expected back some time around the all star break. Harris is questionable with a right elbow bruise. Mudiay is questionable after tweaking his ankle, for the Nuggets. As for Portland, Lillard is out with a left hamstring injury.

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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™

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TPM™ Game 32 PDX

Jamal Murray: +2

Emmanuel Mudiay: N/A

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: +14

Will Barton: +4

Malik Beasley: +0

Torrey Craig: +0

Wilson Chandler: +23

Juancho Hernangomez: +0

Richard Jefferson: N/A

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: N/A

Trey Lyles:+2

Darrell Arthur: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +18

Mason Plumlee: +6

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 32 Games +294

Emmanuel Mudiay: 29 Games +286

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 29 Games +417

Will Barton: 31 Games +305

Malik Beasley: 29 Games +64

Torrey Craig: 5 Games +5

Wilson Chandler: 28 Games +215

Juancho Hernangomez: 16 Games -14

Richard Jefferson: 8 Games -2

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 25 Games +46

Trey Lyles: 27 Games +170

Darrell Arthur: 4 Games -11

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 25 Games +375

Mason Plumlee: 32 Games +87

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +9.19

Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.86

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +14.38

Will Barton: +9.84

Malik Beasley: +2.21

Torrey Craig: +1.00

Wilson Chandler: +7.68

Juancho Hernangomez: -0.88

Richard Jefferson: -0.25

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +1.84

Trey Lyles: +6.30

Darrell Arthur: -2.75

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +15.00

Mason Plumlee: +2.72

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 31:

New feature: Team TPM statistics

*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (nerdy) baby (TPM™) learned to speak

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Analysis:

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Qtr2- The Nuggets bench (so far consisting of Barton, Craig & Lyles) has been horrible again (outscored 13-1 thus far) and Mudiay is nowhere in sight. Go figure. Denver's lead is just two at 10:41 on the strength of an 11-0 Blazers run. The official scorer is getting a lot of things wrong tonight. I apologize on their behalf. Denver's bench has still only scored one point at 7:30 as the Nuggets trail by one. Pat has to take a seat with 3 fouls after some very effective play, at 7:07. Jokic is the first Nugget in double figures. Denver takes the lead by 4 after two straight chippies by Jokic. He then sinks a three and Denver leads by 5 at 5:00. It appears that Jokic will simply not be able to get any breathers tonight. The lead is now 5 at 3:37. Chandler is playing his best all around game in some time as he's already nearing a 2d (9-8) and has played very well on D. Denver is gelling now and the lead is ten at 2:25. Murray has his third foul and is replaced by Barton. Collins nabs a third of his own but remains in since the other bigs are also in foul trouble for PDX. He picks up his 4th as a result! Collins finally checks out and Stotts' gamble did not pay off. Chandler is the 2nd Nugget in double digits. Craig is the only Nugget who has yet to score. Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic + 10 & Chandler +12 and lead 52-41 at the half.

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Halftime: Smoke break? Once again, with family in for the holiday, my niece is "patiently" waiting, so yes!

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Qtr3- Harris is the third Nugget in double figures. Jokic gets his 4th foul at 10:26 but remains in. I think that's the right call but it's definitely playing with fire. Plumlee's help D on the perimeter has been excellent tonight. Denver leads by 14 after a Chandler three at 7:54. This definitely seems like vintage Ill-Will tonight. I'd say that the prudent move at this point (7:54) would be to remove Jokic and hope to maintain a double digit lead while the Nuggets are playing with house money, rather than fire. Either option presents risks however, so it'd be hard to fault Malone with either decision without the luxury of hindsight. He remains in and sticks a three in Juka's face. He's as focused as we've seen all season, as I predicted. Denver leads by 19 on the strength of a 12-2 run. Juka is getting frustrated which was heartbreaking when I rooted for him in Denver, but decidedly less so now, though I DID start him tonight on my fantasy team. Jokic finally checks out at 4:45 replaced by Lyles, up 17 so Malone's gamble DID pay off. The lead is quickly down to 13 as a result of his exit but a Chandler three stems the tide. Barton still can not find the range and is no longer driving; the opposite of the elixir for him. The Nuggets three bench-warmers are REALLY struggling tonight. Plumlee is only credited with three blocks but I'd be very surprised if he doesn't have 6-7 in reality. This may be the worst official scoring I've witnessed this season. Take that sportsvu algorithm! Collins has his 5th foul at :25. Denver is paced in TPM by Harris +12, Chandler +17 and Jokic +20 and lead 80-66 after three.

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Qtr4- Jokic is back in to start the 4th. PDX scores the first 4 of the period and the lead is down to ten at 10:05. Collins fouls out at 10:02 on a Chandler drive. Believe it or not, this could be big. Chandler has a 2d and I can safely say that this is now unequivocally his best game of the season. The lead is up to 15 at 9:24. Could this be the easy 4th QTR win I've been craving so that I don't have to work as hard for the first time in several games? I think so, as the lead is now 19 at 7:31 on the strength of a 9-0 run. It's clear that Jokic has been working on that one-legged Nowitzki jumper while he was injured. Denver leads by 21 after a Barton drive at 4:54. The Blazers seem to have resigned based on their body language, down 18 at 3:45. Stotts agrees as he waves the white flag and inserts the recycling time players. Malone finally removes the starters at 1:09 and this one is ova! Lyles is the 4th Nugget in double digits followed soon by Barton. Denver is paced in TPM by Gary Harris: +14, Nikola Jokic: +18 & Wilson Chandler: +23, as they win going away, 102-85.

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Final Thoughts: I'm back in the predictions game! There was very little to complain about tonight in terms of Malone's rotations. This may have been the best team win on the year. Denver wins in Portland for the first time in 10 games! This Portland team is more dependent on their star PG than maybe any other team. It is amazing how much better Denver looks when Chandler plays the way he is capable of.

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The Nuggets Win!

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