(Photo: FullScaleSports.com)
Golden State Warriors (15-13) at Denver Nuggets (14-12)
Tipoff: Monday, December 23, 2013, 6:00PM PST
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
TV: CSN Bay Area | Radio: KNBR 1050 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @brownieNBA)
PREVIOUS GAME
Nuggets: 91-112 loss on the road to LAC on Saturday
Warriors: 102-83 win at home against LAL on Saturday
Andre Iguodala returns to Denver, scene of the “mole” incident from last season’s playoffs in which Warriors head coach said that he was told by a person or persons in the Nuggets organization that former Denver head coach George Karl was going to employ physicality tactics on Stephen Curry.
As it turned out, Kenneth Faried appeared to attempt to trip Curry during a play in those very playoffs, setting off a media storm in which Jackson used the words, “hit men”.
However, neither Karl nor Faried will be on the court tonight. Karl, although named NBA Coach Of The Year, was fired and Faried will not play due to a sprained left ankle suffered in the first quarter during the Nuggets’ previous game on Saturday:
#Nuggets coach Brian Shaw says F Kenneth Faried (ankle) is doubtful for tonight's game vs @warriors.
— Denver Nuggets (@denvernuggets) December 23, 2013
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Last month November 28, 2013, local Denver sportswriter Dave Krieger caught up with Karl, and wrote on Krieger’s personal blog:
Q: Do you think Andre Iguodala was Mark Jackson’s “mole”?
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A: No question.
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Q: Does that bug you?
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A: I just think that’s media hype. I mean, that series was not a physical series. Everybody wants to be more aggressive with the guy kicking your ass, so . . . .
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Q: The media didn’t say it. Jackson said it.
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A: I thought Mark had a lot of tricks in that series that were bush- . . . I don’t know. I don’t know what they were. Almost high-schoolish. They were beneath the NBA level. And they might have worked. They might have motivated his young team in a good way. You know, he’d announce a starting lineup and start another guy. C’mon, man. You think we’re not ready for that?
Jackson responded not too long thereafter during media availability after Warriors practice in Oakland and stated that in terms of “bush league”, he felt that the Nuggets had first employed such tactics. Jackson claimed that he did not make the first move on that front, saying that the Warriors coaching staff did not know if Evan Fournier or Faried would be starting, either.
Rusty Simmons of the SF Chronicle and Matt Schwab of the San Jose Mercury covered the incidents today.
Simmons writes:
But the No. 3 Nuggets got bounced by the sixth-seeded Warriors, and Denver decided to blow it up and blame Iguodala. The franchise has seven new front-office people, five new members of the coaching staff and four new players.
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Playing against Denver means the world to Iguodala. He said all of the right things before going back to Philadelphia for the first time as a Warrior last month.
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But once he was on the court where he played his first eight seasons, his true feelings shined. He scored a season-high 32 points on a career-high seven three-pointers and a season-high 11 baskets.
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What’s uncertain is whether Iguodala is healthy enough to make a similar declaration in Denver.
Schwab remarks:
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala, who helped the Denver Nuggets to a franchise-record 57 wins last season, is not sure what he’ll hear from the fans at the Pepsi Center Monday night.
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“I really don’t know what to expect,” he said after the Monday morning shootaround.
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Ex-Nuggets coach George Karl made things complicated for Iguodala by saying last month that Iguodala was “absolutely” a mole for the Warriors in the teams’ first-round playoff series last spring.
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Karl, now with ESPN, alleged that Iguodala shared inside information with Warriors coach Mark Jackson pertaining to Denver’s intentions to get extra-physical with guard Stephen Curry. The fact that Iguodala spurned the Nuggets and signed a $48 million contract with the Warriors in July added to the off-court intrigue.
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For the record, Iguodala denied being a mole for the Warriors on Monday morning.
DenverStiffs.com had Iguodala’s direct quote:
“What Karl said, obviously you didn’t react to it because it’s sort of water under the bridge, but you’re denying that’s true – what he said about you?”
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“Definitely.” said Iguodala.
On December 14, 2013, on Tom Tolbert‘s radio show on KNBR, Jackson said that there was actually more than one mole.
Tolbert: Were you surprised at all that George Karl came out and named Andre Iguodala the mole?
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Jackson: Well, disappointed. And I”m not goint to get into a war of words, I was just disapointed. Andre Iguodala is abig-time basketball player, a heck of an individual. He’s no longer a player of his. Let it go, be the bigger man, and move on. I’ve never said who it was. It’s not that important. Matter of fact, it was more than one so it’s not even an issue. At the end of the day, I just think we move on and take the high road. It just wasn’t fair for those statements to come out.
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Tolbert: I like Coach Karl. I’ve been around Coach Karl before, but I thought in him saying that, isn’t he actually admitting that he did say something?
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Jackson: Well, you said it, not me.
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Tolbert: I think you co-sign, though.
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Jackson: It’s disappointing. I got a lot of respect for him. He’s a heck of a coach. He’s done a great job, has had a great career. I just think it was out of character. Sometimes you get a microphone in front of you or somebody asks you questions and you say things and maybe later on you wish you hadn’t. Hopefully that’s the case, but either way, I won’t be responding and we’re not going to entertain firing back his way. It’s over with.
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Ray Ratto, Tolbert’s co-host: So you’re not going to have Iguodala dress as a spy on the bench next to you?
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(Laughs.) No, that’s not gonna happen.
As for the game itself, Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area points out these matchups:
Stephen Curry vs. Ty Lawson. Both point guards are the engines of their respective teams, Curry with his shooting and distributing, Lawson with his quickness and ability to push the pace. Both are playing well.
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Andre Iguodala vs. Wilson Chandler. Both wings are solid at each end. But Iguodala is the superior overall player. He should be able to keep Chandler in check.
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Toney Douglas vs. Nate Robinson. While Douglas is a defensive specialist, Robinson brings almost nothing other than offensive energy. Toney’s job is simple: Don’t let Nate get on one of his patented hot streaks.
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