Denver Vs Sacramento 2017-18 Game 2. "Home Opener."
Pre-Game Thoughts: This is an exceedingly young Kings team, with a plethora of recent draft picks as a result of the Boogie Cousins trade last season, and eleven consecutive seasons of "trusting the process." They are rebuilding, but not devoid of talent, and they do have a few key veterans interspersed within the roster, such as Z-Bo , VC and the off-season object of many Nugget's fan's affection, George Hill. Our old friends JaKarr Sampson & Kosta Kufos play for the Kings and I was particularly impressed with the play of Skal Labissiere towards the end of last season. I wouldn't expect the Kings to contend for a playoff spot in the ridiculous Western conference, but I doubt that is their M.O. this season anyway. More a matter of the youngsters learning from the vets, and maybe squeezing in 1-2 more lottery picks imho.
As far as tonight's game is concerned, I expect to see spirited play out of Denver tonight, as they laid an egg in the second half of their opener against Utah, and while the Nuggets are young in their own right, there are a lot of prideful players and unlike in years past, they have a few perennially playoff-seasoned, veteran leaders sprinkled in amongst this year's iteration of mile high ballers. If they DON'T come out with passion tonight, THEN I'd say we have something to worry about, but I fully expect to see a lopsided victory for Denver, as they play their home opener at Pepsi Center.
Denver Roster:
Will "The People's Champion" Barton,
Juancho "Ironically, No Room For A Nickname" Hernangomez
Richard "The Dragon Slayer" Jefferson
Kenneth "The Manimal" Faried
Trey "Bien" Lyles
Darrell "Darth" Arthur
Tyler "Not just Anunobody" Lydon
Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic
Mason "Plumdog Millionaire" Plumlee
Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone
Sacramento Roster:
De'Aaron "Swiper, No Swiping" Fox
Frank "Free" Mason III
"He Got A Boo-Boo" Buddy Hield
Bogdan "I'm The Good One, Right?" Bogdanovic
Vince "Half Man, Half Retired" Carter
Malachi "Children Of The Corn" Richardson
Garrett Temple "Of The Dog"
Justin "Not Quite Josh" Jackson
Willie "Or Won't He" Cauley-Stein
Kosta "Freaky Greeky" Koufos
Georgios "Even Freakier & Greekier" Papagiannis
Update: Richard Jefferson is not expected to make his Debut just yet for the Nuggets
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 2 Sac
Jamal Murray: +5
Emmanuel Mudiay: +14
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +20
Will Barton: +13
Malik Beasley: +0
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +9
Juancho Hernangomez: -4
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +22
Kenneth Faried: +14
Trey Lyles: +1
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +13
Mason Plumlee +6
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 2 Games +8
Emmanuel Mudiay: 2 Games +22
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 2 Games +39
Will Barton: 2 Games +29
Malik Beasley: 2 Games +6
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler: 2 Games +10
Juancho Hernangomez: 2 Games -9
Richard Jefferson: 0 Games +0
Paul Millsap: 2 Games +26
Kenneth Faried: 2 Games +14
Trey Lyles: 2 Games +1
Darrell Arthur: 0 Games +0
Tyler Lydon: 0 Games +0
Nikola Jokic: 2 Games +13
Mason Plumlee: 2 Games +6
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +4.00
Emmanuel Mudiay: +11.00
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +19.50
Will Barton: +14.50
Malik Beasley: +3.00
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +5.00
Juancho Hernangomez: -4.50
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +13.00
Kenneth Faried: +7.00
Trey Lyles: +0.50
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +6.50
Mason Plumlee: +3.00
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Analysis:
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Qtr1- Denver trots out the same staring five from the season opener. Sac counters with Hill, Hield, Cauley-Stein, Jackson and Z-Bo. Denver is unlikely to win an opening tip this entire season. The shooting for both squads is ice cold on jumpers out of the gate, but the Nuggets look to be able to get any shot they want against the Kings. Jokic and Harris are displaying excellent chemistry offensively in the early going. Denver is playing sticky defense tonight, which I expected. This is encouraging; they are on a 9-0 run at 7:45, and lead 9-3. Barton and Plumlee are the first to leave the Pine at 6:00. Murray can not buy an open J. I prefer to twist both ends, any old way, especially if I'm paying for it. WCS gets his 2nd foul at 4:00. Plumlee shoots an Air-ball from the FT line. Not a good look. What was certainly not the comeliest of quarters ever played, comes to a close with Sac up 18-17.
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Qtr2- Faried is in to start the 2nd, and Immediately scores. Denver comes out with an 11-0 run to start the 2nd, thanks in no small part to the energy of Faried. Have I ever mentioned how much the "Who's Ball?" call & lack of response by Nuggets P.A. man Kyle Speller annoys me? If you answered yes, you would be correct. Mudiay is playing excellent ball on both ends, just as he did against Utah. A Quintessential chase down block by Faried at 7:30 vs Fox. If Murray doesn't get it going soon, Mudiay may just have his starting gig back, and this time, he'll have actually earned it. Sap looks FAR more comfortable in his 2nd game playing for the city in which he spent the majority of his formative years. Pretty okie doke move against his KY brethren WCS, finally gets Murray off the schnide. Jokic must exit at 3:00 after picking up his 3rd foul. To his credit, Murray is exhibiting tremendous hustle defensively, even though his shot isn't falling. As they say in baseball, "even if you are struggling at the plate, you've still got to bring your glove to the field." Faried is the 1st player with double figures scoring at 2:00. It seems as if many Nuggets must be eating popcorn on the bench. A lot of butter fingers on display. I don't know if I'd necessarily call this a defensive struggle, so much as a less than attractive example of offensive play for both teams, but Denver leads, at any rate, 42-34 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Not today. Some Denver Nuggets legends are in the house!
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Qtr3- Denver is sharing the ball effectively, but passing up too many open looks by their better shooters. Jokic has YET to score! He does however have 6 of his patented "fell into my lap" boards (not a dig btw, it's a symptom of good positional rebounding), and 6 largely impressive assists. Chandler has yet to find his place within this offense thus far in to the young season. Is the 3rd qtr going to be Denver's Achilles heal yet again this season? The Nuggets are starting to force turnovers and create offense from defense (something that is vital to their taking a step forward this season) now, so perhaps not. Nobody is in serious foul trouble for either team at 3:30, as Z-Bo picks up a T. What is with the charity stripe tonight Denver? 5-12 is not acceptable. Barton is starting to heat up from downtown, and the Nuggets have their biggest lead of 16 with 1:30 to go in the 3rd, I can now Agree with Marlowe, that Denver is legitimately playing solid D, as they head into the 4th with a 66-52 lead, and only one player (Juancho, for the 2nd straight game so far) is in the negative in terms of TPM.
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Qtr 4- Sacramento looks destined to lead the NBA in unforced errors this season. Jokic is now getting turnovers out of an utter disinterest in scoring. It's one thing to be unselfish, but quite another when it's to the detriment of the team, and they need one of their best shooters to do just that. For the Nuggets, Faried, Sap, Barton & Harris have all reached double figures in scoring. Mudiay is starting to struggle to finish at he rim again, but by-and- large he' s been excellent tonight. Denver is up 21 at 7:45 and my pre-game prediction on the score is starting to look like a reality. As is often the case, I spoke prematurely and Denver is starting to ease up on the throttle, as is their wont, resulting in the Kings cutting it to 16 at 6:00. Sap has been the Nuggets best player on this night. Murray has been out for quite some time. It seems he may be this season's Mudiay for Malone. Denver has a 20 rebound edge at 3:45, 55-35. Mudiay gets his 5th foul at this point. Denver is up 18 at 2:15 after Mudiay becomes the 5th Nugget with double figures in scoring, on a gorgeous drive and finish. The bench-warmers check in for the Nuggets with 1:00 to play and that's all she wrote. Denver wins 96-79
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Final Thoughts- Jokic and Murray are a bit too gun-shy thus far in the young season; This needs to change, but at least they are both contributing. Denver's bench was excellent tonight, as were Malone's rotations, for the most part, his handling of Murray aside. Nuggets Win!
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