One of the better team photos I've come across this season. Get well soon Gordon.

T.K.O.P.H.

Still keepin' the seat warm for The Anchorman.

Denver vs Boston: One hot, one not in a very misleading recent trend.

Pre-Game Thoughts: As anyone who follows the Nuggets knows, they are playing like absolute hot garbage at the moment but finding a way to win in the rare air. Nothing is ever exactly as it may appear to be in the NBA.

When last these teams met in Boston; Nuggets game 28 in mid December, I came away VERY impressed by their young wings, Brown and Tatum and despite playing without Horford on that particular day, it is clear that Boston is an elite team with a very good combination of star power, veteran glue (Baynes comes to mind) and a stockpile of young talent. In short, this is a team with a very bright future not to mention present (currently the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference) especially when you consider that they are playing without Gordon.

In said encounter the C's won a close game, 124-118 in what was one of those rare "encouraging defeats" for Denver in which they were at the end of an exhausting road trip (stop me if you've heard this one my friends from Boston) & playing on a B2B without their best player "Big Honey". Denver was paced in TPM by Harris'+33 output but only received double figure contributions from two other players (Chandler & Murray both +14) while getting an unsightly -12 from Plumdog.

Ally wore shoulder pads for the 2nd time this season resulting in a -4 TPM score for her on the night.

The Celtics WILL have the services of Horford this time around but will be without the elite defensive play of Marcus Smart, one of only a handful of guards in the league who can make any sort of impact vs the dribble drive of NBA PG's. Larkin figures to get the bulk of Rozier's/Smart's minutes and he played very well even against good defense last time Denver faced Boston.

Denver WILL have the services of Jokic tonight, have won 10-13 vs the C's in the Mile High City and Boston is having an underwhelming road trip, losers of 5-6 overall so a W is attainable for the good guys but when facing a squad as stacked as this, it will take cohesion, a few lights-out individual performances and basically firing on all cylinders to pull it out, as CelticsBlog writer flceltsfan noted in his pre-game analysis:

The Celtics are 17-7 on the road and 13-5 vs Western Conference teams

Go Nuggets!

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Boston Celtics Roster

Coach: Brad "The Rad Dad" Stevens

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, Lydon is out for the year after tearing up his knee in the G-League and Chandler is questionable with an illness for Denver. As for Boston, Hayward is still out with the knee injury, they'll be without the services of Smart with a hand injury and Yabusele with an ankle injury, while Rozier is also questionable with an ankle injury.

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

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TPM™ Game 50 BOS

Jamal Murray: +20

Emmanuel Mudiay: +7

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: +8

Will Barton: +24

Malik Beasley: N/A

Torrey Craig: -4

Wilson Chandler: N/A

Juancho Hernangomez: N/A

Richard Jefferson: N/A

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: -5

Trey Lyles: +14

Darrell Arthur: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +19

Mason Plumlee: +0

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 49 Games +485

Emmanuel Mudiay: 38 Games +338

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 46 Games +701

Will Barton: 49 Games +515

Malik Beasley: 42 Games +59

Torrey Craig: 20 Games -17

Wilson Chandler: 45 Games +278

Juancho Hernangomez: 17 Games -17

Richard Jefferson: 14 Games -5

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 31 Games +29

Trey Lyles: 44 Games +362

Darrell Arthur: 7 Games -19

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 43 Games +617

Mason Plumlee: 50 Games +187

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +9.99

Emmanuel Mudiay: +8.89

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +15.24

Will Barton: +10.51

Malik Beasley: +1.40

Torrey Craig: -0.85

Wilson Chandler: +6.18

Juancho Hernangomez: -1.00

Richard Jefferson: -0.36

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +0.94

Trey Lyles: +8.23

Darrell Arthur: -2.71

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +14.35

Mason Plumlee: +3.74

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 49:

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

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Analysis:

Qtr2- The Nuggets have shot just 33% from the floor to this point. The lead is nine for BOS at 9:36. Mudiay continues to struggle finishing at the rim, Lyles is AGAIN beaten on an ineffectual closeout to a three attempt and the lead is up to 16 at 8:25. Boston can REALLY D it up. Doesn't hurt that they are now 8-13 on largely uncontested threes. Denver re-inserts their starters at this point in an attempt to stem the tide of momentum. Make that 9-14 from distance for BOS which has yielded more scoring alone than that of all the Nuggets combined output! Barton is the 1st Nugget to reach double figures in scoring. 10-16 now for Boston from distance and they have their biggest lead now at 20 points with 5:58 to play. Denver is finally showing some semblance of D and they have cut it to 13 at 4:29. The Celtics appear to be starting to feel the altitude. Plumlee is T-ed up and he and Big Honey are very upset with the officiating. Denver's offense looks as ugly as they have in some time but much of the credit there should go to the excellent DBBIQ of these Boston players. This has been a very forgettable first half for Plumlee. No players for either team are in any serious foul trouble yet. Denver is getting outworked and out-muscled tonight. They are paced in TPM by Murray +10, Barton +12 & Jokic +13 but have their work cut out for them, trailing 45-56 at the half.

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Halftime: Smoke break? Stupid question, stupid section.

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Qtr3- Jokic has a 2D early in the 3rd. Plumlee looks to be seeking redemption for a poor first half and the lead is down to 7 on a wicked alley-oop dunk courtesy of Murray. Barton's distribution and Plumlee's work down low on offense has lead to a resurgence and the lead is down to 6 at 7:10. Denver has really picked up the pace and the lead is down to 4 after yet another Plumlee dunk. Momentum squarely resides with Denver and the lead is down to two at 5:45. Jokic, Plumlee and Barton make 4 Nuggets in double figures. Boston is completely out of sorts offensively and settling for outside jumpers. They haven't scored for 4 minutes as a result and it's all knotted up at 4:45. Kyrie appears to have a charlie-horse and he checks out. Murray FINALLY sticks a three and Denver now leads by one at 3:49. Denver is a COMPLETELY different squad this half and the lead is two at 2:29. The teams are now trading hoops as BOS counter-punches and they retake the lead by one at 1:05. Murray makes 5 in double figures for Denver. There is still nobody in serious foul trouble for either squad. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray +16, Barton +20 and Jokic +21 and Denver finally leads 82-80 after three.

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Qtr4- The Nuggets are 27-2 when leading after three which obviously bodes well. Boston, desperate to slow the furious pace is charged with a 2nd delay of game penalty, resulting in a T. Mudiay is distributing nicely as per usual. Denver leads by 5 at 9:55. Lyles is the 6th Nugget in double digits and the lead is four at 9:25. It's VERY annoying to hear a smattering of MVP chants as Kyrie shoots FT's. Irving is heating up and the C's retake the lead by one at 8:12. Craig looks more energized than he has in MANY many games. Plumlee appears to have injured his leg and is forced to check out as BOS leads by 3, on the strength of a 9-1 run at 7:38. Plumlee has been helped into the locker room with the help of the team trainers and it appears to be a right calf injury in which he can put zero weight on his leg according to Ally. Denver's starters - Plumlee + Lyles appear to be in there to close this. Once again Denver is struggling to secure defensive rebounds vs tap-outs. This has been Barton's best game in a while. BOS leads by 4 at 5:23. Lyles cuts it to 3 after drilling one from distance. Denver is in the bonus at 4:17 which is huge! Harris is just 1-7 from three tonight. The Nuggets are ramping up the D and force the 1st TO by either team in a well played 4th. A Horford prayer from the top of the arch extends the lead to 6 at 1:51. Lyles cuts it to two with under 2 minutes to play. Murray ties it up on a runner with 0:43 to go! What a game! Brown nails a three with the Nuggets scrambling on D and the Celtics lead by three with 0:33 to play. A Murray layup cuts it to one. Boston has it with 0:17 to go and they call a timeout to re-insert Kyrie. Gotta play D here with 4.4 seconds of differential, shot/game clock. They do and then board it but are unable to convert a Barton heave from 45 feet and Boston wins it, ending the Nuggets undeserved 3 game win streak. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +14, Jokic +19, Murray +20 & Barton +24 but lose 111-110

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Final Thoughts: Very nice effort in a loss once again for the Nuggets vs this Boston squad. Excellent 2nd half response! Lets hope the injury is nothing serious for Plumdog. You want to pull out the W but I feel much better about this one than I did the past two victories for the Nuggets. C'est la vie.

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We Suck Again!

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