A formidable trio now that Batum is starting to shoot straight.

Legends, Both.

Still keepin' the seat warm for The Anchorman.

Denver vs Charlotte: The Hornets have plenty of sting in them, Despite their record.

Pre-Game Thoughts: My pal Alex, my palex, will be notating the in-game analysis section for me tonight so that I can enjoy the game a bit more. My wording still, I'm just lucky enough to have someone else typing for a change, perhaps resulting in less clunky shorthand.

You may recall my mentioning him previously in the first game against Dallas, in comparison to McBob:

Seriously, McBob is what happens when my buddy Alex and Charlie Day have a baby as tall as the two of them combined and are stripped of their respective (I assume) baby Bjorns.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. These two teams haven't met since the Nuggets fourth game of the year, in October, in Charlotte. On that night the Nuggets received double figure TPM contributions from just three players, lead by Chandler's +20 in a 110-93 loss. Kaminsky was problematic as he scored 20 points on 9-15 shooting and added 4 boards and three assists in only 28 minutes, en route to victory. He's always impressed against Denver for whatever reason.

As I mentioned, Batum has been shooting lights out lately (comparatively speaking) after his arm issues landed him on the inactive list for a long period of time and hindered his play once he returned. Kemba Walker is Kemba Walker; that is to say an elite PG in the NBA and containing him occasionally in the P&R will be crucial for Denver. Say what you will about D12 but he's still a presence in the middle and their ability to deploy him alongside Kaminsky, without Denver's availability of Plumlee to counter, should again cause issues for the good guys.

The Hornets swarm into the Mile High City on a three game winning streak, having rallied from 21 down in their previous game against Phoenix, while Denver is perhaps playing their best ball of the season over the course of the last four games against exceedingly strong competition, in just just six days so we should be in for a good one tonight.

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)

Charlotte Hornets Roster

Coach: Steve "The Big Red Dog" Clifford

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, Plumlee is out with a calf strain for Denver. As for CHA, Williams is questionable with an ankle injury.

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

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TPM™ Game 54 CHA

Jamal Murray: +17

Emmanuel Mudiay: +17

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: +29

Will Barton: +16

Malik Beasley: +2

Torrey Craig: +6

Wilson Chandler: -1

Juancho Hernangomez: +0

Richard Jefferson: N/A

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: N/A

Trey Lyles: +1

Darrell Arthur: +2

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +17

Mason Plumlee: +N/A

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 53 Games +557

Emmanuel Mudiay: 42 Games +396

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 50 Games +778

Will Barton: 53 Games +568

Malik Beasley: 45 Games +63

Torrey Craig: 24 Games -7

Wilson Chandler: 48 Games +272

Juancho Hernangomez: 18 Games -17

Richard Jefferson: 15 Games -5

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 32 Games +25

Trey Lyles: 48 Games +372

Darrell Arthur: 11 Games +6

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 47 Games +702

Mason Plumlee: 50 Games +187

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +10.51

Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.43

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +15.56

Will Barton: +10.72

Malik Beasley: +1.40

Torrey Craig: -0.29

Wilson Chandler: +5.67

Juancho Hernangomez: -0.94

Richard Jefferson: -0.33

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +0.78

Trey Lyles: +7.75

Darrell Arthur: +0.55

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +14.94

Mason Plumlee: +3.74

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 53:

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

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Analysis:

Qtr2- Barton is running the point despite Mudiay being in the game. There's been far to much iso ball with this bench unit + Barton/Chandler. No two-ways about it Barton is getting torched on defense. The bench unit has for the most part held serve while the starters get a breather. The starters start to filter in @ 7:20 with a 7 point lead. Big Honey gets his first two @ 6:00. Kemba Walker is getting to the rim at will (pun intended). Denver is playing far too much on the perimeter on offense as Charlotte takes the lead @ 4:00. The Nuggets starters look listless. Lamb picks up his third foul @ 3:21 and checks out. Murray FINALLY sticks a 3 and ties it up @ 2:11. Big Honey has nothing for D12 tonight defensively. Where has Gary Harris gone? Making a reverse alley-oop layup, that's where. Jokic decides a slobberknocker will be his best facsimile of defense with regard to D12. He picks up his third foul @ 0:28 and must check out but inexplicably remains in. It nearly backfires as he should have been called for a foul in the waning moments. Murray is the third Nugget in double figures. Denver is paced in TPM by Harris +19 and leads 63-62 at the half.

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Halftime: Smoke break? Stupid question, stupid section.

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Qtr3- A sluggish start to the third for both squads. Big Honey breaks the ice with a 3 @ 10:15. "Kaminsky, the fifth Baldwin brother as played by Nicholas Cage" -Alex. The Hornets are ice cold and finally score @ 8:15. Kemba Walker is playing stout D on Murray forcing turnovers/bad decisions. Jokic is the fourth Nugget in double figures. Charlotte definitely appears to be tiring @ 7:00. Big Honey has a 2D as Denver leads by 10 @ 6:44. Charlotte has only managed 4 measly points midway through the third. Jokic is four assists shy of another 3D as Denver leads by 13 @ 6:02. Murray is starting to catch fire. "I feel like we need to fill out this quarter but there's nothing to talk about" -Alex. Murray + bench to close out the third as Denver leads by 16. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Jokic +14, Barton +15, Murray +19 & Harris +21 as Denver leads Charlotte 97-84.

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Qtr4-The two teams trade buckets early and Charlotte does not look like a team that is about to have any sort of second wind, so the starters may be able to sit this QTR out with the exception of Barton. The downside of this of course is that there will be no 3D for Jokic but that was unlikely anyhow, needing 4 assists. Darth is the 5th Nugget to reach double digits, followed closely by Mudiay, the sixth. Harris, rather than a bench-warmer is in for Barton for some odd reason, with the Nuggets up by 19 @ 6:39. Mudiay is killin' it tonight. Craig goes down hard after a blocked shot attempt and seems to be ok but you know that one smarted. Darth somehow earns a flagrant-one foul on the play, seemingly for undercutting Zeller?!?! I didn't see it that way, like at all. Jokic checks in @ 6:24 which I do not at all get, with Denver leading by 17. Lyles is the seventh Nugget in double figures, which is tremendous! My only gripe about this one is that Denver still isn't playing any D but that's nothing new. At least they aren't developing any new bad habits after this splendid stretch of play against superior teams. The Nuggets are 18-33 from distance tonight. Superb! Denver calls a timeout at 1:48 HOPEFULLY to remove the starters, up 15. Sure enough, in come Beasley and Juancho and this one is ova! Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic +16 Mudiay, Barton & Murray +17 & Harris +29 as they win 121-104.

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Final Thoughts: It was nice to not have to type; it was even nicer to not have to do much in the 4th quarter. Thanks again Al!

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The Nuggets Win!

Denver Nuggets Hornets vs Nuggets coverage At The Hive