Pretty, pretty good.

Uggh! don't remind me Patrick!

Still keepin' the seat warm for The Anchorman.

Rematch vs the team which has by far embarrassed the Nuggets most this season; or "Don't feel bad Denver, you're not alone."

Pre-Game Thoughts: When these two teams last met on game ten of the season, Golden State dominated in a 19 point victory that was never as close as even that score would indicate. Denver recorded a season low (by an astounding 12 points) four, combined team-TPM points in the game. The only Nugget that had double digits in TPM was Mudiay (+16), seven players were in the red, led by Millsap's (yes, the team was embarrassingly healthy at the time) -10.

This time around, the Nuggets will be without the statistical outliers from that game, Mudiay & Millsap and nearly all other meaningful players have missed extended time recently but injuries to two of their top 4 will also hinder the world champion Warriors tonight. Green has only recently returned, and Curry has been out for a while. Expected starters Livingston and Pachulia are also dinged up.

I actually have a (perhaps unjustified) good feeling about this game. I don't think the Nuggets are likely to pull out a victory; more likely they'll be competitive and could possibly even carry a lead late into the game and then the team with championship pedigree & star-power, the Warriors, will themselves to victory but I honestly don't expect a let down otherwise in effort. Both teams are on a B2B, Denver had to travel but didn't change time zones, and the Dub's game ran later last night. Add in the element that there is a good chance even for a dynastic team such as them to overlook this game in favor of their X-mas date with the Cav's and the ingredients for at least a competitive game, if not upset are there.

I'd like to see Faried, Beasley and perhaps Morris get at least a chance to go in this game, as they are all capable of impacting the game in spurts, and are all obviously well rested.

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Coach: Steve "The Blur" Kerr

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. Mudiay is questionable after tweaking his ankle, for the Nuggets. As for GS, Curry is out with an ankle injury, Boucher is out with a knee injury, Livingston is questionable with a knee injury and Zaza is questionable with a shoulder injury.

Update part deux: Livingston and Zaza are both out.

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

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TPM™ Game 33 GS

Jamal Murray: +12

Emmanuel Mudiay: N/A

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: +15

Will Barton: +8

Malik Beasley: +2

Torrey Craig: -3

Wilson Chandler: +9

Juancho Hernangomez: N/A

Richard Jefferson: N/A

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: N/A

Trey Lyles:+14

Darrell Arthur: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +16

Mason Plumlee: -5

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 33 Games +306

Emmanuel Mudiay: 29 Games +286

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 30 Games +432

Will Barton: 32 Games +313

Malik Beasley: 30 Games +66

Torrey Craig: 6 Games +2

Wilson Chandler: 29 Games +224

Juancho Hernangomez: 16 Games -14

Richard Jefferson: 8 Games -2

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 25 Games +46

Trey Lyles: 28 Games +184

Darrell Arthur: 4 Games -11

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 26 Games +391

Mason Plumlee: 33 Games +82

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +9.27

Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.86

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +14.40

Will Barton: +9.78

Malik Beasley: +2.2

Torrey Craig: +0.33

Wilson Chandler: +7.72

Juancho Hernangomez: -0.88

Richard Jefferson: -0.25

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +1.84

Trey Lyles: +6.57

Darrell Arthur: -2.75

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +15.04

Mason Plumlee: +2.48

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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- Big Honey is the first Nugget in double figures and to his credit, Barton is doing a good job finding him since his shot isn't falling. Craig is playing decent but not great D tonight. It's 28 all at 9:18. Barton is forced by a wide open court in transition to drive and it results in two FT's. Perhaps that will get him going. All Nuggets have scored at 8:15 and they lead by two. I'm not certain if the numbers bear it out, but Casspi has the definite appearance of an elite offensive rebounder. Why on earth, after 120 odd games of tracking TPM, is the word "rebounder" not in my spell-check dictionary? Denver's bench is finally starting to go on a run and they lead 37-30 at 6:15. Unfortunately, for the 2nd time in a row, GS wins the timeout and they cut it to two at 5:46. Jokic comes in at this time after a very short break. The starters are in tact at 4:51 and the flow again favors the Nuggets. Harris is the 2nd Nugget in double digits at 4:46. All of a sudden they have an eleven point lead as a result of this change, at 4:12. Golden State seems to be highly disinterested tonight as I predicted. I'm on a roll in that regard. Thompson in particular is Ice cold which does not bode well for the Nuggets since he will undoubtedly get it going before this is said and done. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray & Jokic +12, as they lead 53-41 at the half.

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Halftime: Smoke break? Yep. I'll miss having my niece and smoking buddy here with me when she goes back to Wyoming after X-mas.

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Qtr3- Vic is wearing a boring suit and tie. Do you see why it's more fun to comment on Ally's wardrobe choices? You've got to believe GS will start sticking threes so this game will still require concerted effort for Denver. Chandler has done a very good job defensively tonight on KD. He's the third Nugget in double figures and they lead by 11 at 9:47. GS cuts it to 7 and the crowd is starting to awaken at 8:47. Case Keenum is doing my fantasy football team no favors tonight. Plumlee gets his first bucket and now all Nuggets have scored. The Nuggets are playing excellent defensively at the moment which is good to see because it indicates that they realize that this likely wont be easy. Denver starts to filter in subs at 5:43 for some very tired starters. It's the Warriors turn to pick up the defensive intensity and the lead is down to 7 at 5:00. Chandler is the 4th Nugget in double digits. GS is getting to seemingly every batted ball. They are also the team batting the ball in the first place. Wow, is Omri's shot release ever a stark contrast to that of Thompson. Uh oh, In comes Pierre. Golden State is somehow 1-21 from downtown! Ya, it's safe to say they are looking past this game to their championship rematch with LeBron and the Cavs on X-mas. Plumlee has once again dislocated his finger. He's one tough Hombre but he's forced to exit at 2:43, with an 11 point lead. No players for either team are in foul trouble. Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic +12 and Murray +15, as they lead 73-62 after three.

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Qtr4- Wow! Plumlee is back in! Atta boy Mase! Murray drills a three and the Nuggets lead by 16 at 9:51. Could they get a 2 game win streak on the road vs very good teams as our early stocking stuffer? Batted balls are finally starting to find the grasp of Denver players. Klay is 5-20, 0-9 from distance and STILL chucking instead of driving (not to be confused with shucking and jiving). Glad that's not a Nugget issue this time. The lead is 14 at 8:15. Of course I jinxed it and Thompson finally sticks a three but the lead is still 11 after Malone wisely calls a timeout, as the crowd starts to awaken again. Green goes down hard after he catches a Jokic chicken wing and stays down. GS unlike the Nuggets call a timeout here but that actually benefits Denver as the Warriors are now down to one. Play resumes and he stays in, down 11 at 7:05. Denver initiates their prevent offense with over 6 minutes to play. Seriously? Lyles is the 5th Nugget in double digits. Denver is feeding Lyles in a mismatch against McCaw on every possession. It's not leading to shots but is generating opportunities for others. B2B buckets by Jokic and Harris push the lead to 17 at 3:34. Kerr has waved the White flag, Inserting recycling time players at this time and it looks like the Nuggets will win in GS for the first time in 6 games. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray +12 , Lyles +14, Harris +15, & Jokic +16 and win a game that turned out to never really be in question in hindsight, 96-81 and in so doing, snap the Warriors eleven game winning streak.

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Final Thoughts: Merry X-mas everyone. My family's annual X-mas eve Lazangathon is on tomorrow!

Called it, two nights in a row. Glad I'm back in the prediction game since it seems to serve the Nuggets well. Big wins back to back on the road vs Western Conference playoff teams is not at all a bad present. I must have made the "nice" List for the first time in my 40 years on earth.

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The Nuggets Win!

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