You often get game analysis from reporters on the court and close to the action on the court, but let’s not kid ourselves, you really want the opinion from the real seats, where the beer flows like water, there are no free t-shirt tosses, and the real question is if that toddler behind you knows they’re shouting “Defense!” when the Nuggets are on the fast break (They obviously don’t).  This is the upper deck review.

Nuggs I Love:

• Andre Miller:
  In the words of Hardwood Paroxysm’s Matt Moore:

  I HAVE SEEN THE OLD MAN GAME AND I AM NOT WORTHY — Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 21, 2013

  Professor Andre Miller, PhD. as Grantland knows him, or Old Man Miller, or as I like to call him, Uncle Dre (Real life Uncle Drew) came through in the clutch.  Without Miller, the Nuggets don’t win this game.  End of story.  Miller’s game winning layup with 1.3 seconds left to play sealed the game after Steph Curry’s potentially heartbreaking 3 point bomb to tie.  Miller abused Golden State’s defense like they didn’t eat their vegetables that night.  For the Nugget’s 37 years young point guard, it was a brilliant showing from a player who wouldn’t let the Nuggets lose.

• Javale McGee:
  Some dislike Javale and expect the worst whenever he takes the court, but those were far and few in between at the Pepsi Center.  Javale receives an ovation when he steps into the game and you can tell he feeds off of it.  Javale was probably the player that scared the Warriors tonight more than anyone as he altered shots and brought energy to a Nuggets team desperately missing Kenneth Faried.  His stat line of 9 pts, 6 rebounds and 1 block won’t jump out, but he performed admirably when Kosta Koufos was unavailable due to some pretty early foul trouble.  In addition, you could see him really energize the crowd with two blocks (one was unjustly called a goaltend) and a monster jam over Andrew Bogut.  While the jury is still out on McGee, it’s certain that the Pepsi Center loves Javale and is exponentially louder and brimming with anticipation when he takes the court.
• Klay Thompson:
  Not a Nugg, but damn.  Hell of a game from Klay. Coming off screens in the first half the guy could. Not. Miss.  It was like the Space Jam aliens swapped his shot with Steph Curry’s.  Without Thompson, I don’t think the Warriors come as close as they did.
•  Playoff Basketball in Denver:
  The Pepsi Center wasn’t quite full when the game started, but at about the 3rd quarter the entire building was pumped and rocking.  Nothing beats playoff basketball, whether it be in college or the pros, because energy in the building just reverberates off the walls like a bunch of toddlers in a candy store.  The Warriors fans were far and few throughout the arena and the scene outside the Pepsi Center before and after the game was one of pure excitement.  This city is ready for a playoff run, from the Pepsi Center, to the bars in LoDo after the game, everyone is amped for more Nuggets basketball.

Nuggs I don’t like:

• Rally Towels:
  I know, I know, they’re kinda cool in a Pittsburgh-ish terrible towel kind of way, but they’re towels.  I still have powder blue ones from two years ago that I use to wash dishes and they’re just not as awesome as they seem.  It’s just hard to continue waving because it gets tangled with the person’s towel next to you and because people just give up as time goes on.  Why?  Because waving towels at altitude is a lot more difficult than waving them at sea level (okay, I don’t know why, you tell me a better reason).  If we’re going to have a towel waving crowd, then the whole crowd has to really get into it.  Either the rest of Denver has to step up their towel game or we need something else to get excited with.  The only pro is that when it’s hot and the atmosphere is tense, the collective towel waving creates a fan like feeling that cools off all that nervous sweat… and that’s about it.
• Missing Kenneth Faried for the game:
  Glad you’ll be back for game 2 because there is no way that the Nuggets should be outrebounded by Golden State in a playoff game 55-45.
• David Lee’s hip flexor:
  Sorry to see Lee go down with what looks like a season ending injury.  GS fans, we feel your pain as we’ve lost a starting forward this year already.  It sucks to not have the best players on the court for a series and I hope that Lee gets better for the sake of good basketball fans everywhere.
• Honey Smoked Fish Co.’s sponsorship of the game:
  Don’t mind the sponsor, but if you’re gonna sponsor something, do it right.  I mean, at least try.  Tee’s for Omega-3′s?  Really?  The random, deep voiced, semi-creepy, “Honey Smoked Fish” pitch after a timeout.  I don’t have to comment any further.
• Nuggets 3 point and free throw shooting:
  The Nuggets shot 3-16 from beyond the arc and 18-28 from the charity stripe.  In a two point game the Nuggets couldn’t hit 70% from the line or even 20% from three point land.  Make two free throws and one more three pointer and this game isn’t nearly as competitive.  Here’s to hoping the Nuggs can find something that resembles an outside touch for the rest of the playoffs.

January 13, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the first half at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets have finished the regular season at 57-25.  Their best regular season record ever.  Let that sink in.  With all the hoopla surrounding the Lakers offseason acquisitions, the dominance of Miami in the Eastern Conference and the worst season Brandon Knight will ever have, the Nuggets have evaded the public eye and the experts for most of the year.  It’s been ignored everywhere outside of Denver, and even by some in Colorado, that this is probably the best basketball team that has ever come out of the Mile High City.

It’s with that in mind, I’d like to say that no matter the outcome in the playoffs, basketball has been blessed to have a team like the Nuggets.  In stark contrast to the superstar-laden behemoths that ball in LA, New York, Miami and Oklahoma City, the Nuggets have flipped the basketball script.  Executive Masai Ujiri traded away a disgruntled scoring All-Star, brought in an underrated defensive ace and kept only one player on the roster after shuffling the entire roster.  All this time, the Nuggets have won, while other teams who lost franchise players (Cleveland, Orlando, Phoenix, Toronto) have resorted to tanking and playing the NBA’s lottery.

What the Nuggets have is a team built to run.  A team that leads the NBA in points per game, is 2^nd in rebounds per game, and is 3^rd in assists per game.  The Nuggs have six players who average double figures in points and brandish a rotation that goes 10 deep.  George Karl has assembled a basketball purists’ dream team without superstars; one he hopes will buck the notion of one player being more important than the team.

With that said, here are some musings on the League’s playoff prospects:

• Damn the injustice of injuries.  The loss of Danilo Gallinari to an ACL tear, coupled with a gimpy Ty Lawson these past few weeks, and the absence of Kenneth Faried to a sprained ankle has put a dampener on the Nuggets’ season and the hopes for any more Italian celebrations on the bench:

• Will Stephen Curry’s ankles hold up?  The sharpshooter has always been one of my favorites from his days at Davidson, but his three years in the NBA have been plagued by ankle troubles.  No basketball fan wants to see Curry go down, but they can’t ignore that any time he hits the floor or lands awkwardly there’s an underlying fear that his body will give out.
• Grantland’s Zach Lowe is both amused and afraid of the “Wild Child” front court that the Nuggets employ, which is the perfect way to describe it.  The Anthony Randolph and Javale McGee combo is something straight out of a retrospective E! News or VH1 special.  You know ,”So much talent and potential, but… well, you get the picture.”  Personally, I love these players.  They give their all every night and have really stepped into their roles and the team well.  I’m of the opinion that their potential will be attained with the coaches, mindset and teammates in the Nuggets organization.  The two enigmas have a chance to rewrite their NBA careers in Denver, and that all starts with this playoff series.  We could be in for an awesome rebounding, dunking, crazy athletic expo with these two, or we could have something equatable to this:

Please, in the name of the Father, Son and Javale McGee and Anthony Randolph… I’m praying for the first.

• The Lakers made the 7th seed in the playoffs.  I don’t know who to be more mad at, the Rockets for shooting themselves out of the game against a hobbling Lakers team, or the general ineffectiveness, no… ineptitude, no… just overall “suck” that the Utah Jazz displayed against the Grizzlies.  Geez Utah, you have a chance to make the playoffs, put the heat on a crumbling Lakers team to miss the playoffs, lose their lottery pick to Phoenix, and set off a series of munchkin like celebrations in the collective cities of Orlando, Phoenix, and any other basketball city that lost something to the Lakers… And you score 70 points.  Go home Utah… Go home.  As for Houston, enjoy your buzz saw matchup with the OKC Thunder, you’ve earned it.
• Pau Gasol is doing his best vengeful ignored girlfriend impression with LA.  After being benched, being blamed as the cause of chemistry problems and after numerous trade rumors involving his name, he’s averaged 17.5 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists over the month of April.  Well done Pau, time for another team to step in as the “sensitive guy” and rescue him because, you know, he deserves better.
• Wilson Chandler is an important cog to the Nuggets right now.  Like I wrote when he first got back into the lineup, Chandler is that glue guy that stretches opponents D, plays great defensively and can initiate contact on the way to the rack.  Without Gallo, Wilson is even more important.  With occasional matchups against David Lee and with perimeter D being a paramount focus against Golden State, Chandler will have to come up big if the Nuggs want to take care of business.

More musings to come during the course of the playoffs.  Go Nuggets!