This upstart assembly may just have what it takes to contend for a playoff position.

Denver should look to exploit this match-up if the Warriors again deploy this strategy.

The band is FINALLY back together!

Nuggets vs Warriors III: Reverse gaslight anthem.

When last these two teams squared off in game 43 of this season the Nuggets (lap) enjoyed double figure TPM contributions from three players led by Nikola Jokic: +19. A TPM™ record seven players for Denver were in the red for that match-up led by Juancho/Torrey Craig: -8 as the Nuggets were utterly embarrassed on their home floor by the NBA Champion Warriors, a 142-111 keelhauling in The Mile High City.

In that game, every Warriors player who found a microphone to speak into spent the better part of the day talking up the Nuggets as legitimate contenders and Denver's youth was on full display come game time; they bought the hype bestowed upon them and failed to show up to play. The Warriors COULD NOT MISS from beyond the arc and scored 51 first quarter points! Only in the second period did they score less than 30 (28.) Green was an amazing +41 on the night. the trio of KD/Klay/Steph combined for 89 points (a mere 22 fewer than the entire Nuggets team.) As a unit they piled up 38 assists. Most importantly, they shot an above average 21-39 (53.8%) from beyond the arc, and 60% from the floor on the night. No team on the planet would have slowed them on that particular evening but Denver did themselves zero favors by buying into the pre-game gas-lighting.

Prior to that encounter, Denver had strangely had the Warriors number in recent years, that is in as much as any team in the league had. Suffice it to say that all of that was obliterated in one fell swoop in this most recent contest.

As for this game, I'm leaving up my IT diatribe for a third and final game so that I can simply direct the loud, pitchfork wielding majority of Stiffsville to it rather than dipping my toes in the murky waters of their comment section any further but I am going to take a moment to talk about this match-up first, as any contest with the greatest team on the planet warrants such consideration.

Their starting unit could easily be confused for an all-star team and indeed each of them have made the squad on numerous occasions. Depth is not a strength for them as it is Denver but Livingston, Iggy and the newly-re-acquired Bogut are legit contributors who know how to win, period. Also they have that whole "NBA champs and participants in three two of the last three finals" thing going for them which I suppose counts for a little something if you are interested in accuracy in reporting.

They haven't been playing their best ball as of late but that is no cause for alarm given the competition; largely comprised of Eastern Conference foes that have little to no effect on playoff seeding, not to mention that they have been without the services of Thompson. Make no mistake, they are as savvy as savvy gets and have a firm understanding that Denver will be out for vengeance tonight and those are precisely the types of games that this team gets up for.

As for the aforementioned Isaiah Thomas, I think the following message bears repeating. Yes IT has been bad, particularly as a shooter and until the last two games in terms of turnovers. Defense has surprisingly not been an issue thus-far but i suffer no delusion that it eventually will be.

Recognizing that his shot is still not true, In the last two games actually he was looking to distribute, only to have his teammates pass up open shots, give it right back to him and stand around. I personally am more willing than most to be patient with him as I am not emotionally attached to shiny new things (Monte/Beasley) the way most Stiffs are and I remember a time in the not so distant past in which IT was amongst the very best players in the league. Moreover, he's the ONLY player on the roster who can currently be counted on to hit big shots in the playoffs which as anyone who actually watches them knows, may as well be a different sport altogether.

It's important to also understand that not all efficiency is created equally. Juancho is a perfect example. When healthy/confident, he's an excellent floor spacer who is 100% reliant on others to create each and every opportunity for him, as he's entirely inept when attempting to dribble or hold on to the round thing. When you couple the two-month-long funk he's been in with the negative impact he has on the team defensively, he's demonstrably, decidedly, deplorably un-deployable.

Donovan Mitchell on the other hand has come up bitterly in conversation lately, as being an inferior player to the drastically more efficient Malik Beasley but that is a perfect example of disembodied numbers getting in the way of the truth. There are exactly zero GM's in the NBA who would currently take Malik over Donovan and that includes Tim Connolly. Ok, maybe Vlade or whomever is running the show in PHO could fuck that up.

Do I think IT will ever be that player again to the same degree? Absolutely not. Do I think it's worth risking a bit of playoff seeding in an attempt to get him close? You bet your ass I do. He is not at all shooting well but his FT% being as low as it is is evidence that he'll work out the kinks. If he fails to, then I'm on board with omitting him from the playoff rotation.

Having not seen the team they follow reach the post-season for the past decade, Stiffs are prone to relying solely on that which is quantifiable without any context. Well we can do that with ONLY IT and Millsap when it comes to playoff numbers so while I'm not a stat nerd myself, I've at least provided those of you who are with an avenue for which to do so.

It's also important to recall that 'Sap is only over the course of the last handful of games, regaining the form he had prior to his early December injury, Barton is only now after about 20 games back from injury starting to get his legs under him (while unlike IT, his stark defensive liabilities have gone unmentioned), Murray has yet to fully recover from numerous leg and elbow injuries he's played through and Harris has been in and out of the lineup all season and has YET to gain his trademark consistency.

Why are we so quick to assume that IT who missed an entire season is finito after a mere handful of games played? Why did this clamoring occur following just ONE game? He looks NO less rusty than Barton did one week ago IMHO.

A fair argument can be made that 20 games is not enough time to get IT up to speed and that alone is worth ending the experiment. That places entirely too much faith however, in two very young guards in Monte/Malik, who are for the first time in their careers making a contribution. It also throws away the book of common playoff knowledge that states clearly, as illustrated both in numbers and anecdotally, that experience and star power are at a premium above inexperienced talent.

I'm of the opinion that people who wish to end the IT experience are falling into the trappings of focusing far too much on the here and now and not on the end goal. IT will never be new again but if things go right, we'll be thankful to see him shine in a Nuggets uniform.

The Rx for integrating IT into the lineup is below (see food for thought) mmmmm... sea food.

I'd like to sprinkle in some seasoning for this clam bake, adding that when he's paired with Monte, he should be playing off the ball and Monte should be instructed to be the primary ball handler so that more of IT's shots come from within the offense, as a catch and shoot option where he's always been deadly. This also returns emphasis to the highly successful P&R duo of Morris/Plumlee. It doesn't take a genius to understand that this would create wide open looks for IT, Malik and whichever starter remains in to play with the bench unit.

Sorry for the relative lack of in-depth pre-game analysis on your squad Warriors fans but IT has been a hot button topic in Denver that I wanted to address.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are some numbers you can use:

Golden State gives up 112.4 PPG by their opponents on average, to Denver's 107.0

The Warriors average 118.2 PPG offensively to the Nuggets 112.1

This results in a net rating for Golden State of +5.8 and +5.1 for Denver

Golden State is 23-9 at home while Denver is 16-15 away from the friendly confines of The Pepsi Can. Contrary to the lack of knowledge exhibited by Sleepy Steven A. Smith, Denver has the third best road record in the West.

In terms of conference record, the Warriors are 26-12 to the Nuggets 28-13 mark which is important only in as much as understanding the strength of schedule involved, as the Western Conference has been as much as ever, the stiffer competition

Denver of course is 2nd in the Western Conference standings, just 1 game behind the Warriors while Golden State currently resides in 1st place in the Western Conference. Whomever wins tonight will be in first place by virtue of the tiebreaker, as the season series is tied at one win a piece with this and one other game (also at Golden State) remaining.

When it comes to the other meaningful statistical box-score production the comparison is as follows:

(team with advantage in bold)
GSW: RPG 46.2 APG 29.0 SPG 7.5 BPG 6.5 FG% 48.8 FT% 80.8 3% 37.8

DEN: RPG 46.9 APG 27.7 SPG 7.8 BPG 4.5 FG% 46.8 FT% 75.4 3% 35.5

The numbers on whole favor the Warriors but as anyone who reads my piece knows, I don't believe any statistic or even a complex, predictive conglomeration of statistics are nearly as accurate in indicating actual results as are the unquantifiable variables of "Mo & flow™" momentum and the ability to find the zone.

To that end, the Nuggets have won 14 of their last 20 & 6 of their last 10 games, while the Warriors have been victorious in 14 of their last 20 & 5 of their last 10.

There are of course many other variables at play including match-ups; styles make fights. For example, Denver's weakest position currently is SF which just so happens to be the spot occupied By KD for the Warriors which is sub-ideal but lets be honest here. Denver could completely blank KD (they wont) and still lose by a wide margin, by virtue of the sheer volume of talent otherwise present in the starting lineup for Golden State. Curry DOES for whatever reason, have a tendency for getting into foul trouble vs Denver which obviously takes a lot of what they try to accomplish off the table so for Denver to steal one, a highly unlikely scenario in California, the recipe will be to attack & shoot with the intent not to draw fouls but to score, while not shying away from contact and hope that somehow they get a favorable whistle by virtue of being the aggressor and cause individual foul trouble for the Warriors who are by no means a deep unit.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

For this young Nuggets group, (fourth youngest in the NBA; they were the youngest at the start of the season but tank-moves made by CHI/NY/PHO have rendered them younger, since) individual consistency is simply not a thing so it's more difficult to predict how a player will contribute based upon trends; particularly so as the starters begin filtering back from injury and roles are altered/redefined in the coming games. Jokic has been consistently good but in different ways seemingly every night. The Nuggets have missed more man-games to injury by a wide margin, than any team in the league. This includes three starters having played fewer games than they have missed. As they and IT are worked back into the rotation, neither can team consistency be expected.

Having said that, Big Honey is a legit MVP candidate and an emerging superstar, while Murray is coming into his own as Robin to The Joker's Batman (I'm not certain how that works either) while Millsap/Harris provide secondary options when things get problematic on offense; simultaneously carrying the bulk of the defensive burden and Barton is the much needed secondary ball handler/play-maker for when things go awry; a natural scorer/creator and the Nuggets boast one of the deepest benches in the league, even without Lyles and MPJ.

When Jokic gets a 3D at home, over the course of his career, the Nuggets are undefeated and only once in his 28 career 3D's have the Nuggets lost. In short, these are not hollow, stat seeking ventures but Jokic playing within the offense. He's come up short of a 3D no less than a dozen times this season alone, by one or two P/R/A due to the Nuggets leading big and his sitting out fourth quarters. In such occasions he can be found laughing and cheering his teammates on from the pine.

The man cares about one thing only and that is winning. Ok two things... deriding officials being the other. Let's make that four actually. Dancing (poorly/datedly) and hurling children into the sky. I guess he also likes horses and fish stew. He cares a lot come to think of it, just not about 3D's or indeed any statistic other than W's.

It can not be overstated what an advantage it is to have two creators in P&R sets in Jokic/Murray, a seven footer who played PG as a youth and a 6'4 PG who played C as a youth, who are able to swap roles seamlessly. Murray is widely regarded as the best screen-setter on the team while it's well documented what a virtuoso Big Honey is in terms of distribution.

I do expect the Nuggets' rotation to tighten up a bit, so it will likely be a nine man unit, which leaves Craig/Juancho and likely Lyles upon return, out.

Food for thought: With Harris again starting, this is what Denver's rotation should consist of:

PG Murray/Morris/IT

SG Harris/IT/Beasley

SF Barton/Harris/Beasley

PF Millsap/Plumlee

C Jokic/Plumlee

A combination unique amongst the NBA, of being very small in positions 1-3 while exceptionally large at the 4-5. For this to work Plumlee has got to curtail his fouling, Jokic has GOT to stop taking "Jokic only" fouls to prove a point to officials and defensive communication has got to be at a premium. Got it? Or as the immortal Syd Barrett might say, "Have you got it yet?" Do yourself a favor and click that link which illustrates his tragic brilliance as succinctly as can be displayed without listening to his innovative music. It goes without saying, you should of course explore that too, particularly Pink Floyd's '67 Debut album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and his final solo album from '70, "Barrett."

Prediction: Denver (lap ) 115 - Golden State 119

______________________________________________________________________________________________

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

Also, my DIY music production and videos can be heard/seen here if you don't value your ear-balls & eye-drums.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Golden State Warriors Roster

NO	Name	POS	Age	HT	WT	College	Salary
2	Jordan Bell "Grande"	PF	23	6' 9"	224 lbs	Oregon	$1,378,242
4	Quinn "Can" Cook "So Can You. Might I Suggest Delicious Panang Curry?"	PG	25	6' 2"	179 lbs	Duke	$1,544,951
0	DeMarcus " Boogie" Cousins	C	28	6' 11"	270 lbs	Kentucky	$5,337,000
30	Stephen "Panang" Curry	PG	30	6' 3"	190 lbs	Davidson	$37,457,154
32	Marcus "Leif" Derrickson	F	22	6' 7"	249 lbs	Georgetown	G-Money
35	Kevin "Tall-Ball" Durant	SF	30	6' 9"	240 lbs	Texas	$30,000,000
10	Jacob "Seventh" Evans	SG	21	6' 6"	210 lbs	Cincinnati	$1,644,240
23	"Mean" Draymond Green	PF	28	6' 7"	230 lbs	Michigan State	$17,469,565
9	Andre "The Mole" Iguodala	SG	34	6' 6"	215 lbs	Arizona	$16,000,000
21	Jonas "Jumpin Jehoshaphat" Jerebko	PF	31	6' 10"	231 lbs	Swedonia	$1,512,601
15	Damian "I'm Assuming DJ?" Jones	C	23	7' 0"	245 lbs	Vanderbilt	$1,544,951
1	Damion "David" Lee	SG	25	6' 6"	210 lbs	Louisville	G-Money
34	Shaun "Gargantuan Andre Miller" Livingston	PG	33	6' 7"	192 lbs	America, Presumably	$8,307,692
5	Kevon "Chopper, Sick Balls!" Looney	SF	22	6' 9"	220 lbs	UCLA	$1,512,601
28	Alfonzo "Skinny" McKinnie	SF	26	6' 8"	215 lbs	Green Bay	$1,349,383
11	Klay "Coup Ferre" Thompson	SG	28	6' 7"	215 lbs	Washington State	$18,988,725

Denver Nuggets Roster

NO	Name	POS	Age	HT	WT	College	Salary
5	Will "The People's Champion" Barton	SG	27	6' 6"	190 lbs	Memphis	$11,830,358
25	"Mutant" Malik Beasley	SG	22	6' 5"	195 lbs	Florida State	$1,773,840
3	Torrey "FUCKING" Craig	SF	27	6' 7"	215 lbs	USC Upstate	$2,000,000
2	Brandon "Hopefully Contributes To Many The" Goodwin	PG	23	6' 2"	180 lbs	Florida Gulf Coast	$630,032
14	"Just" Gary Harris	SG	24	6' 4"	210 lbs	Michigan State	$16,517,857
41	Juancho "The Mouthful" Hernangomez	PF	23	6' 9"	230 lbs	Espana	$2,166,360
15	Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic (AKA The Joker)	C	23	7' 0"	250 lbs	Gotham	$24,605,181
20	Tyler "Not just Anunobody" Lydon	PF	22	6' 10"	225 lbs	Syracuse	$1,874,640
7	Trey "The Swiss Army Spork" Lyles	PF	23	6' 10"	234 lbs	Kentucky	$3,364,249
4	Paul "The Anchorman" Millsap	PF	33	6' 8"	246 lbs	Louisiana Tech	$29,230,769
11	Monte "Ratio" Morris	PG	23	6' 3"	175 lbs	Iowa State	$1,349,383
27	Jamal "The Blue Arrow" Murray	PG	21	6' 4"	207 lbs	Kentucky	$3,499,800
24	Mason "Plumdog Millionaire" Plumlee	PF	28	6' 11"	235 lbs	Duke	$12,917,808
1	Michael "The Sleeper Cell" Porter Jr.	PF	20	6' 10"	210 lbs	Missouri	$2,894,160
0	Isaiah "Ice" Thomas	PG	29	5' 9"	185 lbs	Washington	$1,512,601
8	Jarred "The Amalgamated Version Of A Dude I Once Bought Weed From On Haight Ashbury" Vanderbilt	PF	19	6' 9"	214 lbs	Kentucky	$838,464
45	Thomas "Irvine" Welsh	C	22	7' 0"	255 lbs	UCLA	G-Money

Update: MPJ is still waiting to make his Denver Nuggets/pro debut as he rehabs from multiple back surgeries. Lyles is out with a Hammy. Wow! That was short! As for the Warriors, only someone named Damian Jones is listed as out with a pectoral injury.

Re-up: Yes I'm aware that trades/acquisitions have been made and the above roster for the opposing team is inaccurate. Hopefully you are aware that the fan-post format isn't equipped to make adjustments to the above template so it often results in entire pieces being destroyed and or hours of work being lost. Simply put, it's not worth the additional effort/risk to change once the Nuggets have faced an opponent once. No disrespect intended. Tune in next season and I assure you the first time Denver plays your team, the roster will be up to date :)

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Data:

TPM™ Game 65 GSW (Starters in bold)

Nikola Jokic: +8

Jamal Murray: +8

Gary Harris: -4

Monte Morris: +22

Paul Millsap: +6

Mason Plumlee: +4

Will Barton: -10

Isaiah Thomas: +8

Malik Beasley: +9

Torrey Craig: +2

Juancho: +0

Jared Vanderbilt: +0

Thomas Welsh: N/A

Tyler Lydon: G-league

Brandon Goodwin: G-league

Trey Lyles: Injured

Michael Porter Jr.: Injured

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Total TPM™

Nikola Jokic: 64 games +1463

Jamal Murray: 59 games +1011

Gary Harris: 40 games +518

Monte Morris: 65 games +771

Paul Millsap: 53 games +484

Mason Plumlee: 65 games +527

Will Barton: 27 games +201

Isaiah Thomas: 9 games 72

Malik Beasley: 65 games +513

Torrey Craig: 61 games -14

Juancho: 60 games -7

Jared Vanderbilt: 8 games +12

Thomas Welsh: 10 games +18

Tyler Lydon: 24 games -2

Brandon Goodwin: 16 games +28

Trey Lyles: 55 games +303

Michael Porter Jr.: 0 games +0

Nick Young: 3 games -2

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 6 games +5

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Nikola Jokic: +22.86

Jamal Murray: +17.14

Gary Harris: +12.95

Monte Morris: +11.86

Paul Millsap: +9.13

Mason Plumlee: +8.11

Will Barton: +7.44

Isaiah Thomas:+8.00

Malik Beasley: +7.89

Torrey Craig: -0.23

Juancho: -0.12

Jared Vanderbilt: +1.50

Thomas Welsh: +1.80

Tyler Lydon: -0.08

Brandon Goodwin: +1.75

Trey Lyles: +5.70

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Nick Young: -0.67

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: +0.83

__________________________________________________________________________________________

TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 60:

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

Qtr1- For only the sixth time this season, the Nuggets go with their opening night starting five, consisting of Murray, Harris, Barton, Millsap & Jokic. The Warriors counter with Curry, Thompson, KD, Green & Cousins. KD gets the scoring underway in his mismatch vs Barton. The Nuggets are clamoring for fouls early which I hope is not their mindset vs this All-Star team. Murray gets Denver on the scoreboard with 1-2 from the charity stripe with just under 10 minutes to go. GS leads 11-3 at the time of the first break at 8:39 and Curry has yet to contribute; not a good sign for the Nuggets. The Warriors simply do not miss against Denver so it's pretty clear they take the Nuggets seriously. It's equally clear that Denver lacks veteran leadership. The Warriors are getting away with a ton of handsy defense but that's always the case and it's what the Nuggets can expect in the playoffs. GS leads by nine with 6:51 to go. The Nuggets offensive spacing, perhaps a result of the way the game is being officiated, is horrendous. Green/Cousins are simply forcing Denver's bigs into close proximity where they have no room with which to operate. Murray/Harris have got to start asserting themselves from distance as a means to open things up a bit but they are entirely too passive/awestruck by the moment.

Morris/Plumlee are first off the pine for the good guys at 6:00, trailing by 14. Boogie earns his second (called) foul at 5:34 and is forced to sit. KD earns HIS second foul at 4:38 and also checks out. Denver continues to struggle from the line. Beasley is in for Denver at this point, trailing by 16. Mike Breen has taken to calling clutch & grab defense as "active hands" which I suppose isn't entirely inaccurate. 'Sap is tagged with his second foul and he checks out with 2:19 remaining as Craig/IT check in, trailing by 18. "Who can't root for Isaiah Thomas?" asks Van Gundy. The answer of course is all Stiffs not named Mancar or myself. Denver is in the bonus with 1:42 to go, trailing by 14. GS are now also in the bonus after a Plumlee foul at 1:25. IT is running the point rather than Morris which I dislike and all players are standing and watching as a result. Denver cuts it to nine after trailing by 19 when IT checked in so suck a fat one TTJ; I know you like those disembodied numbers with no context. Here's one: Denver is on a 9-0 run since IT and Craig came in and they are functioning very well on both ends. Do I think IT has had much if anything to do with this lead dissipating? No I do not, not even slightly. Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +7 as they trail 20-30 after one.

Nikola Jokic: +7 Jamal Murray: +2 Gary Harris: -5 Monte Morris: +3 Paul Millsap: +0 Mason Plumlee: +1 Will Barton: -10 Isaiah Thomas: +0 Malik Beasley: +2 Torrey Craig: +2 Juancho: N/A Jared Vanderbilt: N/A Thomas Welsh: N/A

Qtr2- The lead is down to seven after Craig sticks a three. Monte has been excellent thus-far. Plumlee cuts it to five on a give & go from Monte. Craig has yet to miss and cuts it to three at 10:02. IT has yet to significantly contribute for those seeking context, so basically just me and like, a handful of people who are ashamed to admit they read my piece. Will he be credited for being a part of this run? Of course not. It would have been an eleventy brazillian to zero run had he not entered. GS has gone ice-cold from the floor, missing their last nine attempts. Recently, Denver has improved greatly in an area I'm no fan of; drawing charges. It-Morris for three and it's a tie game! IT backs that up with a horrendous turnover, showing his rust. IT-Beasley for three and Denver leads by one! Isaiah is running the point with Morris out there which is a bad idea IMHO. The starters have sat for a long period of time and momentum or not, it might be wise to start filtering them back in. They've gone to their room and thought about what they did. Jokic/Murray are back in, trailing by one.

Beasley is en fuego from beyond the arc tonight and has been the secondary catalyst behind Morris tonight. Murray has got to do something, anything! Harris is in soon after. The ball is humming around finally and not sticking as it was the first time the starters were deployed. Murray scores on an &-1 and Denver trails by one at 4:20 (smoke 'em if you've got 'em.) Malik is the first to reach double digits for Denver. The Nuggets starters are in tact at 3:20, trailing by four. IT currently leads the Nuggets with a +- rating of +14. He's 0-4 from the floor. Barton/Harris are thus-far invisible, aside from being torched on the perimeter by Klay and the lead for GS is back up to nine, as Curry nabs his third foul (told you) but remains in at 1:30. Monte/Malik check in for Murray/Harris at this point, trailing again by 11. Denver needs to be attacking Curry and are not even entertaining the idea. Curry/Thompson drill B2B threes and the lead has ballooned to 17. GS has made their last eleven shots! Barton/Jokic are -32/-31 respectively in +- while IT/Plumlee are +14/+12. Disembodied stats... all the rage. Denver is paced in TPM by Monte Morris/Malik Beasley: +11 as they trail 50-67 at the half

Nikola Jokic: +9 Jamal Murray: -2 Gary Harris: -7 Monte Morris: +11 Paul Millsap: +0 Mason Plumlee: +5 Will Barton: -10 Isaiah Thomas: +2 Malik Beasley: +11 Torrey Craig: -2 Juancho: N/A Jared Vanderbilt: N/A Thomas Welsh: N/A

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Qtr3- Does Malone run out Morris/Beasley/Craig/Plumlee in place of Murray/Harris/Barton/Jokic to send a message? Might not be a bad idea to be honest. Curry-Durant-Thompson: 52 points. Murray-Harris-Barton: 4 points, per Nick Kosmider. Denver deploys their normal starting unit. All starters for GS have at least two fouls and the strategy HAS to be to attack the rim. Denver is not even defending Green, with good reason, so how are the Warriors still getting open looks? The lead is 16 at 10:21. Murray is completely out of sorts tonight to put it mildly. Big Honey makes two in double digits for Denver. Barton FINALLY scores for the first time at 9:01 and the lead is 18 for GS. Cousins is a hacker. He should have fouled out by now. The lead is 16 at the time of the first break at 7:57. Four starters for Denver have thus-far combined for 11 points! KD/Curry both have three fouls. ATTACK THEM!!!! Harris cuts it to 14 from the line at 7:00. Murray sticks a three from Jokic and the lead is 11. Barton has thrown the ball away egregiously in his last two handlings of it. A Millsap dunk cuts it to nine at 5:03. Murray flops one and is unrewarded due to KD being the person driving and having three fouls.

Mason/Malik check in, trailing by 10 at 4:06. KD draws an &-1 on Barton who unwisely reaches, though didn't draw any contact. Curry with a long three after a layup by Looney and the lead is quickly back up to 16. Time for Morris if you ask me as they head into a commercial break. IT now leads the team in +-, still with +14 while the next closest player is Beasley +6. M-V-P! M-V-P! Unfortunately it seems the Warriors will head into the fourth without any serious foul trouble due to passive strategy by the Nuggets. Morris is in as I ordered, as is Craig. Curry/Durant remain out there and have yet to sit in the third period. The refs are swallowing their whistles in this period and the lead is up to 18. Big Honey takes a seat with 43 seconds to go as does KD, as the Warriors lead by 17. The inability to rise to the occasion by four of Denver's five starters coupled with a below average outing by Jokic have been the difference thus-far. Curry plays the entire third period. Denver is paced in TPM by Monte Morris/Nikola Jokic: +12 as they trail 75-90 after three.

Nikola Jokic: +12 Jamal Murray: +5 Gary Harris: -5 Monte Morris: +12 Paul Millsap: +6 Mason Plumlee: +9 Will Barton: -11 Isaiah Thomas: +2 Malik Beasley: +8 Torrey Craig: -2 Juancho: N/A Jared Vanderbilt: N/A Thomas Welsh: N/A

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Qtr4- The Nuggets best hope is for KD and Curry to get the rest they likely need and to snatch momentum away, never to relinquish it. Tall order, I realize this but momentum is the single most important element in this and all basketball games. IT is out there for Denver, trailing by 15 to open the fourth. The players are differing to him yet again forcing a bad turnover, late in the clock. He's rewarded with an &-1 on the next possession and FINALLY hits a free throw, cutting the lead to 14. KD/Curry are indeed out to open the fourth. IT-Morris-Beasley for a pretty three followed by a J for IT and it's down to 11 again at 10:01. Klay drills one from distance with Plumlee right in his face. Two claps. Horrible inbound pass by Morris leads to a fast break dunk for Iggy and the lead is back up to 16 at the time of the first break at 8:43. Malik has gone cold from downtown in the second half. KD enters at 7:46, up by 15. Morris has unfortunately also gone cold from distance this half; Klay has not and the lead is now 18 at 7:18. KD sticks a three with Craig all over him and the lead is 21. Nothing you can do about that.

Jokic is in at 6:54, down 21, as Klay/Green sit. Harris/Murray enter soon after and only Morris/Craig remain from Denver's bench squad. Boogie gets FAR too much respect from the officials, flat out. He sticks a three nonetheless and the lead is now 22 with 6:06 to go. Barton enters and only Morris remains from Denver's bench unit at 5:43, trailing by 17. The Nuggets STILL only have two players in double figures! GS now has their starting unit back in tact at 5:00, up by 17. Murray FINALLY makes a three and in doing so makes three in double digits for Denver. Morris being in there for the ineffective Millsap seems like the right call. Cousins checks out at 3:45, up by 17. Juancho, the human white flag checks in at 3:10 and that's a wrap. Kerr empties his bench after Klay drills his 9th (of 11) three on the night and the lead is 20. Morris makes four in double digits for Denver. Vanderbilt is also in and my work is done at 1:47. Denver is paced in TPM by Monte Morris: +22 as they lose 105-122.

Nikola Jokic: +8 Jamal Murray: +8 Gary Harris: -4 Monte Morris: +22 Paul Millsap: +6 Mason Plumlee: +4 Will Barton: -10 Isaiah Thomas: +8 Malik Beasley: +9 Torrey Craig: +2 Juancho: +0 Jared Vanderbilt: +0 Thomas Welsh: N/A

___________________________________________________________________________________________

We Suck Again!

Final Thoughts: No Thank you. Man, if the comment sections at Stiffs weren't salty before, I can't wait to avoid them following this one. This Nuggets team needs some practice time in a bad way and there are going to be very few opportunities to do so in March.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

For context pertaining to the statistical aspects of this piece, please open this link: TPM™

A brief statement with regard to this piece on whole:

As a means to avoid repeating myself I will include this descriptive diatribe in all TPM posts going forward.

Sure I like statistics; ever since I was a child collecting sports cards and later a pre-teen who ran pre-internet fantasy sports leagues on ink/paper/spreadsheet for the four major US pro-leagues, I've been fascinated by box-score stats but I'm by no means an expert.

I created TPM (which has been around longer than RPM incidentally and unlike them, I fully disclose my non-proprietary system and I contextualize the action rather than being a boring, mysterious, predictive metric) because it does add immediate and accessible context to what we see and what the numbers indicate, which I like.

While the data is meticulously tracked and demonstrably sound, I'm a creative type, not an engineer. Algorithm is the bane of my existence in fact. I'd far rather approach life with the intrigue of expected surprise than attempt to get to the bottom of why things are the way they are. There are many engineers in my family so I totally understand that joy can be derived from finding solutions to problems, I just can't relate. It's not fun for me. THIS is for the most part, not fun for me.

Now I'm a 42 year old man who was born the year after the team I love joined the NBA. I happen to have a lifetime of experience with this sport in several different capacities, including playing (highly underrated within the writing community) so I understand basketball theory in a way most (by no means all) pundits do not.

I was in this case interested in a data-driven approach, which if I'm honest has sapped nearly all fun out of taking in games for me. I get very few days/nights off during the season. One piece requires several hours of research and data entry and all tracking/analysis is done in real time and published mere moments after each game's completion, 82 times (more this season) per year.

As such, the analysis portion is about 90% (I've run the numbers) creative writing with sarcasm generally indicated through italics, non-sequitur humor and hyperbole, in an attempt to steal back some of the joy this endeavor has snatched away.

Hopefully there is a little something here for everyone but if you came just for data or are averse to colorful language, this is not the place for you. I have no way of knowing how many people even read this so I'll not be affected even remotely if you choose not to indulge. For those of you who do, I greatly thank you for the support.

Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets schedule Denver Nuggets roster Nuggets vs Warriors coverage Golden State Of Mind