Denver finally solved the P&R last time.

Warmer... Warmer!

Still keepin' the seat warm for The Anchorman.

These two teams have GOT to be sick of one another by now.

Pre-Game Thoughts: When last these teams met in late December, the Nuggets FINALLY found an answer to the Rubio to Favors P&R and were helped by the cold shooting of Rubio, something he is prone to. Favors still got his but without Gobert it's difficult for Utah to win if they don't get contributions from more than him. Denver had a balanced attack that featured seven players in double digit TPM, including the first instance of Murray showing up against them in three tries this season. Rubio's D had completely diminished him previously.

Jokic was ejected for an unintentional looking, VERY intentional (IMHO) but accentuated (also IMHO) elbow on/by Jerebko last time. Big Honey has GOT to get control over his chicken wings, protests and his emotions in general as he's developing a reputation with the officials that will be hard to shake. I don't believe he should have been ejected but a flagrant one would have been commensurate.

The Jazz (and seemingly every team lately) killed the Nuggets on the offensive glass in the last one which made it a much closer game than it should have been. A lot of this was due to a small ball lineup that hasn't been utilized since, featuring Lyles at the 5. Sure the Nuggets were bad on the boards but they were an enormous net-positive on whole, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that tonight, even though Malone has since abandoned it for Malone reasons.

As for the Jazz, the key is of course containing Favors. Mitchell is very good and has a bright future but is less of a focal point in terms of Denver's weaknesses when they play. Having said that, if Mitchell and Favors both perform it could very easily be a long night for the good guys. Denver also has to curb their habit of leaving players wide open on the perimeter, particularly Ingles in this one, who is deadly from the corner on threes.

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)

Utah Jazz Roster

Coach: Quin "The Bond Villain" Snyder

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 improbable due to dog house (see also Faried, Kenneth) and Plumlee is playing through a twice dislocated finger for the Nuggets. As for Utah, Exum is still out with his shoulder injury, Gobert is out with a knee injury & Neto is out with a knee injury this time, after previously missing the last game vs Denver, while on the concussion protocol.

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

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TPM™ Game 38 UTA

Jamal Murray: +21

Emmanuel Mudiay: N/A

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: +9

Will Barton: +17

Malik Beasley: -2

Torrey Craig: +4

Wilson Chandler: +7

Juancho Hernangomez: N/A

Richard Jefferson: N/A

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: N/A

Trey Lyles: +32

Darrell Arthur: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +9

Mason Plumlee: +11

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 38 Games +391

Emmanuel Mudiay: 31 Games +302

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 35 Games +519

Will Barton: 37 Games +393

Malik Beasley: 33 Games +78

Torrey Craig: 11 Games -4

Wilson Chandler: 34 Games +263

Juancho Hernangomez: 16 Games -14

Richard Jefferson: 10 Games -2

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 26 Games +43

Trey Lyles: 32 Games +261

Darrell Arthur: 5 Games -14

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 31 Games +444

Mason Plumlee: 38 Games +107

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +10.29

Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.74

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +14.83

Will Barton: +10.62

Malik Beasley: +2.36

Torrey Craig: -0.36

Wilson Chandler: +7.74

Juancho Hernangomez: -0.88

Richard Jefferson: -0.20

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +1.65

Trey Lyles: +8.16

Darrell Arthur: -2.80

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +14.32

Mason Plumlee: +2.82

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 37:

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

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Analysis: All apologies. There will be no per-QTR analysis for tonight, tomorrow and Saturday, January 13th as real life interferes but I'll still track the data in the wee hours of the AM and post it to the recap, on all three occasions to ensure that it remains sound.

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The Nuggets Win!

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