What I've learned, pre-research about this team, from my isolated, mountain bubble.

My all time favorite NBA Player.

Keepin' the seat warm for Barton, who seems to be in a best case time-frame in terms of returning from an injury that required surgery. He should be back in the lineup by around December 15th.

Nuggets vs Kings: I hereby step out on a limb and predict a Nuggets victory.

At home... vs the rebuilding Kings... for the undefeated Nuggets, who boast of the league's top defense and a sleeping giant of an offense... BUT, this prediction has not been made as a means to take anything away from the Kings (whom I've undoubtedly assured the upset victory through said prediction. I'll speak nothing further of this), rather, my thought process is based on "the consistency of outliers." I'm sure there is a more accurate name for this phenomena amongst the stat-nerd contingency (my application must have been lost in the mail. Nerds hate being called nerds BTW. Try it! I guess they see geek as the preferred nomenclature... Dude.) I'm referring to the strange occurrences that have little if anything to do with the outcome of an event, yet seem to crop up prominently as a determinant. In this case specifically, I'm referring to the game's opening tip. Denver is 0-3 this season on opening tips and Willie Cauley-Stein is an EXPERT at winning them. Took me a while, as per always but I got there.

When last these two teams squared off, Denver enjoyed double digit TPM performances from four players, led by Wilson Chandler +15, Gary Harris +22, Jamal Murray +23 & Nikola Jokic +41. Three players were unfortunately in the red, led by Devin Harris and Mason Plumlee -2 and the Nuggets coasted to a 130-104 home victory in game 67 of last season. In his pre-game piece for that game, Sactown Royalty's writer W. Griffith cleverly opined:

led by Nikola Jokic, a young Serbian horse racer who decided to use his powers for good after being bitten by a radioactive Vlade Divac

In describing current NBA player of the week Big Honey.

Zero people commented on my piece and I received 5 recs which are both solid numbers for yours truly.

As for this game, The Kings and their future are represented by the law firm of Cauley-Stein/Hield/Bagley & Fox. They can expect to receive marginal contribution from veterans Z-Bo, Shumpert, Bjelica and Ferrell and are waiting to see what they may have in youngsters Mason, Labissiere, Jackson and Giles. They also have Ben McLemore... again. This team is built to score, so that will certainly be a test for Denver's likely-unsustainable, top defensive ranking, with only WCS looming as a plus defender (or as Denver Stiff's writer Gordon Gross astutely observed:

they can’t stop an angry paper bag.

Interesting to me is the fact that when a team gets good enough offensively, all it takes is the smallest amount of commitment defensively and a lower tier D like last year's Nuggets becomes a top defensive team by the numbers. This is one of countless occurrences of the numbers lying to us. Are the Nuggets that much better defensively than they were last year, with largely the same composition this season? Of course they aren't. Is the threat of their offense causing defensive opponents to allocate more energy to defense than offense? Ding ding ding! We have a winner! And THAT (principle amongst many reasons) my friends is why defensive metrics, advanced or otherwise, are deeply flawed as a means of making blanket statements like good/bad with regard to defensive performance. Ever wonder why small-ball and offense trump tall-ball and defense in the playoffs? Have you ever considered that the teams have far more time to rest in between games than they are afforded in the regular season, on a regular basis? Couple this with the desire of the great ones to lay it all on the line when it matters and you (for the most part) have your answer.

Look no further than the world champs, Houston, hell ALL of the good teams. They are ranked highly in defense because they are SO GOOD on offense, not because they made some sort of masterful transition. Golden State was horrendous defensively during their climb to power, until all of a sudden, they magically were not. You can't really quantify energy expenditure in a game (though I'm sure many will attempt to) so we tend to say "this is true because the data indicates it to be so" without giving any weight to the nuance of the human element. Uggh, the old "engineer vs artist" schools of thought. Rarely the 'tween shall meet. Gives us renewed respect for those who excel at both; people like Da Vinci, Mozart and Kid Rock, doesn't it? Then we have J-Lo. Tell me J-Lo, is there anything you CAN do?

Finally it must be said that I just love the writing at Sactown Royalty. Rather than quoting it I'll just invite you to click the link to their pre-game piece in the next section and particularly direct you to get a load of the "For your consideration" section. Seriously funny, deadpan content!

Prediction: Denver 121 - Sacramento 101 (a quick glance at Sactown Royalty reveals a vastly different though similarly offensive outlook ( Kings: 135, Nuggets: 124) from writer Greg, while Gordon Gross predicted a more realistic, if less adventurous, 118-105. victory for Denver.)

Go Nuggets!

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If you are viewing the pre-game version of the TPM piece; and you enjoy Gonzo-basketball reporting, I invite you to please join me after the game where the same link will lead you to the post game version. In it, all of the disjointed/unsightly blanks below will be filled, complete with data/analysis and more snark than "Snarknado VI: Snakenado", which I'm told is about a pessimistic, albino, black mamba who emerges from micro-bursts to torment the people of Los Angeles with shady tweets.

There be monsters; shameless, personal plug alert! (by permission of Denver Stiffs): If you are in the market for clothing, featuring the four major Denver sports franchises as well as CU, please open this link in a new tab to see if there is anything you are interested in. You don't have to order from the link of course if you are in the Denver Metro area, as I'm more than happy to meet up with you (please refrain from bringing rotten tomatoes), drastically lowering the cost, as Poshmark takes a healthy cut as well as shipping & handling. Thanks in advance!

Unique, hard to find, one of a kind and custom gear of your favorite team

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Sacramento Kings Roster

Denver Nuggets Roster

Update: MPJ and I.T. are sleeping on Ice, awaiting intel as to when their services will be required. Rookie Jared Vanderbilt will have to wait to make his rookie debut until long after R.O.Y. candidate Thomas Welsh, as he recovers from an actual injury. Finally, Barton had successful surgery on his abductor and hip. He will be evaluated for return in mid-December. As for Sacramento, promising sophomore Bogdan Bogdanovic is out with a knee injury and our old friend Kosta Koufos is out with a hammy.

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

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TPM™ Game 4 SAC

Jamal Murray: +30

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Monte Morris: +18

Gary Harris: +25

Malik Beasley: +2

Torrey Craig: -6

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: +1

Will Barton: N/A

Juancho Hernangomez: +1

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Jared Vanderbilt: N/A

Paul Millsap: +11

Trey Lyles: +10

Tyler Lydon: +2

Nikola Jokic: +11

Mason Plumlee: +9

Thomas Welsh: +1

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Total TPM™

Jamal Murray: 4 games +60

Isaiah Thomas: 0 games +0

Monte Morris: 4 games +39

Gary Harris: 4 games +73

Malik Beasley:4 games +9

Torrey Craig: 3 games -3

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 1 games +1

Will Barton: 2 games +33

Juancho Hernangomez: 4 games +1

Michael Porter Jr.: 0 games +0

Jared Vanderbilt: 0 games +0

Paul Millsap: 4 games +34

Trey Lyles: 4 games +21

Tyler Lydon: 2 games +2

Nikola Jokic: 4 games +103

Mason Plumlee: 4 games +25

Thomas Welsh: 3 games -1

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +15.00

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Monte Morris: +9.75

Gary Harris: +18.25

Malik Beasley:+2.25

Torrey Craig: -1.00

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 1.00

Will Barton: +16.50

Juancho Hernangomez: +0.25

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Jared Vanderbilt: N/A

Paul Millsap: +8.50

Trey Lyles:+5.25

Tyler Lydon: +1.00

Nikola Jokic: +25.75

Mason Plumlee: +6.00

Thomas Welsh: -0.33

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 3:

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

Analysis:

Qtr2- Beasley is out there to start the 2nd period. The lead is up to 13 on the strength of an 11-2 run for Denver. This game is starting to feel like the Broncos vs Cardinals game from last Thursday. All 10 Nuggets to play have scored except for Juancho. I'm impressed with Bagley in my first chance to see him play. He's gonna be a problem. Justin Jackson likes to shoot the ball and he's pretty damned good at it. Denver's bench should have made hey vs their counterparts for SAC and the young Kings held serve if not got the better of it. The lead is down to eight at 6:08. The Nuggets starting five is reunited at this juncture. Craig is struggling on defense tonight. Good to see Millsap get some chippies to drop, so he can hopefully get his offensive swagger back.

Big Honey is the 2nd Nugget to reach double digits. Murray acquires his third foul, defending the Fleet Fox and he must take a seat once again at 3:37, up 11. Jokic already has a 2D with 11-10-5 and 3:05 to play. 'Sap hits his first three of the season and he's the third Nugget to reach double figures. Jokic picks up a phantom call at 1:25 after earlier getting two silly, "only Jokic" fouls and in doing so, sends SAC again into the bonus. Giles, Who I barely noticed was even playing has somehow earned three fouls of his own. Denver has a season high of 65 points with under a minute to play. Make that 68 after a Harris three vaults the lead up to 16. Mason's prayers are answered from about 35 feet as the half comes to a close. Denver is paced in TPM by Harris +14 as they lead 68-52 at the half.

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Qtr3- The Nuggets look focused out of the gate which is nice to see. I'm glad they weren't satisfied with what was a pretty untidy first half. Murray is hot and he's got five of the first eight points for Denver, after a beautiful, step-back three lands him in double digits, the 4th Nugget to achieve this. He drills yet another three followed by another attempt from downtown, in which he's fouled, so it's time to ride the hot hand of The Blue Arrow. He calmly sticks all three at the charity stripe. The 3rd QTR score is Murray 9 Sacramento 7 and threes are wild (that's how the poker saying goes no?) and Denver has their biggest lead of the game at 18, as they come to the first break at 8:41. I just saw a picture from two years ago, of WCS and his male pattern baldness (no shade; takes one to know one) and all I can say is that his current hair-dresser should get a raise. Then again, as is the case for Brett Michaels, the headband does most of the heavy lifting.

Fox has his 4th foul and Marlowe gets to finally say "out-Foxed" as you just know he's been dying to, from jump-street. I really don't get N.B. starting over Bagley, having now seen him play (SSS be damned) and I certainly hope it isn't a Vlade thing. 'Sap is having by far his best all-around game of the young season but he's been superb defensively in every game. Jokic gets his 4th foul at 5:12, up by 23. Jackson can still shoot. Designated fouler Harry Giles earns his 4th at 2:40 with Denver in complete command of the game. Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic/Millsap +11, Harris +25 & Murray +30, (23 in the third period alone) as they are in the driver's seat, 105-81 after three.

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Qtr4- Big Honey would definitely be on 3D watch with a line of 14-12-6 but there is a high probability of his not playing at all in this closing stanza. The play is refuckulating to the sloppy tendencies of the first half, for both squads and the possibility of Denver impossibly holding a team who plays this fast under 100, is not completely out of the question, as a result. I honestly believe Beasley is already a better defender than Craig. He is not as savvy but makes up for that with raw athleticism. Morris becomes the fifth Nugget to reach double figures. To their credit, the Kings bench unit is once again getting the best of their mile-high counterparts, forcing Malone to call a timeout, as the lead is cut to 20 on the strength of a 7-0 run at 7:01 and my earlier prediction about SAC scoring above 100 is unfortunately seeming likely now. Has anyone seen Z-Bo? Call the dispensaries. Lyles is the sixth Nugget to reach double digits at 5:45. Sacramento calls B2B full timeouts which to my knowledge is not legal.

Plumlee makes seven in double figures for Denver. Oh how the never mighty have remained meager; McLemore enters and we are officially in recycling time. As if he heard me say...er, type that, former ROY candidate Thomas Welsh checks in for the good guys. AAAAAND we now have a Lydon and even an Akoon-Purcell sighting! The Kings are shooting almost as poorly at the line as Denver did vs GS. Beasley is the eighth Denver player to reach double digits (tying the high from last season). D.A.P. gets his first point in the NBA from the line. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Lyles +10, Millsap & Jokic +11, Morris +18, Harris +25 & Murray +30, as they win going away, 126-112 and I assure you, it was nowhere near that close.

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Final Thoughts: My prediction game is solid this season.

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The Nuggets Win!

Denver Nuggets Kings vs Nuggets coverage Sactown Royalty