One silver lining to not being able to watch the Nuggets on TV this season (I'm a Comcast subscriber, at least until I cancel it when my contract comes up) is that I don't even have to worry about trying to sit through embarrassing losses like the one against Memphis the other night. Instead, I immediately turned my attention to the mid-season showdown with the Jazz.

1. I never like games with an 8:30 start time. Regardless of how long it lasts, I always wind up getting home just before midnight and that makes for a sleepy day at work. The upside is that it gives me a little more time to go and grab some dinner. My buddy and I ate at Brooklyn's and I enjoyed their delicious french dip, which in my opinion is the best one in town.
2. There were various fans sporting Kobe Bryant jerseys at the game. It's the first time in my life I haven't objected to seeing that at The Can. I have a feeling that's the start of a trend that will continue for the rest of my life. I'm still shaken by all that.
3. When my buddy and I got to our seats, I saw that Torrey Craig was in the lineup, looked at my buddy and asked, "Why is he starting?" Then Craig proceeded to make several of Denver's first buckets of the night. Touche, Torrey. Touche.
4. There were quite a few Jazz fans in the house last night. There was even one sitting a few rows behind me who kept saying that Jokic is overrated. Let's just say he was pretty quiet by the end of the game.
5. I forgot to mention this in my last post, but the Pepsi Center had new seats installed recently. The most noticeable difference is that the cup holders were moved from the seat in front of you to the arm rest on your seat. I was mostly indifferent to this change, until last night when the guy sitting next to me nearly knocked my beer right out of the cup holder. My guess is this will wind up being a rather messy alteration.
6. Stop me if you've heard this one before: the Nuggets were trailing after the first quarter. For a team with championship aspirations, and one that hasn't been very good on defense as of late, I just don't know how far they can go in the playoffs when they're always playing from behind. Getting some injured starters back or inserting MPJ into the lineup would help, but will it be enough to put a stop to Denver's sluggish starts?
7. It took me a moment to remember that Jordan Clarkson used to play for the Cavs. I certainly don't remember him ever going off like he did last night, dropping 37 points and going 7-12 from beyond the arc. If I knew nothing about basketball and you had told me last night that Clarkson was better than Donovan Mitchell, I would've believed you.
8. Thank goodness for Nikola Jokic. He came through when the Nuggets needed him the most, the hallmark of any great player.