Denver Vs Washington 2017-18 Game 3. "Tall Order"
Pre-Game Thoughts: Washington is one of several teams which apparently have chosen to hitch their wagon to a "big three" concept of roster construction, and it'd be hard to pick too many better triads than Wall, Beal and Porter; the problem being that aside from a decent center in Gortat, the roster leaves a lot to be desired in terms of depth, due to the amount of money they have wrapped up in said players. With that aside, they are a force to be reckoned with, who can beat any team in the league on any given night due to raw talent alone and as a result, are most likely a top 3 team in the East, come playoff time.
Any time you face a team that is top heavy in talent, but shallow in the bench department, something I like to focus on is foul trouble. If Denver can manage to get Washington's key contributors into individual foul trouble, through aggressive offensive play, the Wiz may be forced into more hero ball; something they are most definitely capable of, but far less likely to succeeded in, minus any of their top 3-4 players.
The Nuggets also must discover Murray's missing Jumper and Big Honey's bizarrely absent jumper, if they expect to compete against a top caliber team like the Wizards.
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
Washington Roster:
Tomas "Captain Underpants... Hell, I Dunno" Satoransky
Otto "The New Deal" Porter Jr.
Devin "The Admiral... TeeHee" Robinson
Mike "That's What She Said" Scott
Jason "Nene Is My Brother-In-Law" Smith
Update: Jason Smith, Sheldon Mac and Markief Morris are all out for the Wiz. Juancho is questionable for Denver with an Illness, which could in part explain his poor shooting and defensive close-outs in the first two games.
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 3 Was
Jamal Murray: +12
Emmanuel Mudiay: +14
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +3
Will Barton: +10
Malik Beasley: +5
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: -8
Juancho Hernangomez: N/A
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +7
Kenneth Faried: +7
Trey Lyles: N/A
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +19
Mason Plumlee +6
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 3 Games +20
Emmanuel Mudiay:3 Games +36
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 3 Games +42
Will Barton: 3 Games +39
Malik Beasley: 3 Games +11
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler:3 Games +2
Juancho Hernangomez: 2 Games -9
Richard Jefferson: 0 Games +0
Paul Millsap: 3 Games +33
Kenneth Faried: 3 Games +21
Trey Lyles: 2 Games +1
Darrell Arthur: 0 Games +0
Tyler Lydon: 0 Games +0
Nikola Jokic: 3 Games +32
Mason Plumlee: 3 Games +12
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +6.67
Emmanuel Mudiay: +12.00
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +14.00
Will Barton: +13.00
Malik Beasley: +3.67
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +0.67
Juancho Hernangomez: -4.50
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +11.00
Kenneth Faried: +7.00
Trey Lyles: +0.50
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +10.67
Mason Plumlee: +4.00
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Analysis:
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Qtr1- Denver rolls out the same starting unit from both previous games. The Wiz go with Wall, Beal, Gortat, Porter & "Uber". R.J. appears to be in uniform tonight. Murray is playing very good D, sticking to Wall like glue and gets a chase down block for his efforts. Chandler is off to a quick start this time. Barton is the first Nugget off the bench at 6:22, in a 12-12 tie game. Jokic and Gortat are battling! Big Honey's "absent" shot is no longer truant, as he drills two straight from downtown. Denver has assists on 11 of 12 made buckets, and the offense is cooking against a pretty good defensive squad. Harris has, imho been the Nuggets MVP through three games; certainly the most consistent anyway. Mudiay is in and doing a great job of creating open looks for others with his penetration, but Denver's jumpers are not falling for the 2nd unit; He's still struggling to finish at the rim, however. The Wiz' shallow bench is thus far outplaying the deep Denver bench, so what do I know? Mudiay is blowing by people at will, and FINALLY finishes one at the rim. Frazier heaves a 35 footer at the horn that goes in (let's hope this isn't a running theme this season) to even the score at 29 after one.
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Qtr2- Beasley gets an early entrance tonight to reward his strong play this season. It's remarkable how much better Mudiay looks in the rare occasions in which he's allowed to play with Jokic. Emanuel is starting to get careless with the ball however, and in what may be the first time ever, Malone is not removing him from the game! THIS is why we NEEDED Jameer to go. These turnovers are NOT affecting his overall play, as evidenced by the 11-0 run Denver is on. Let him work through it, Frazier picks up his 3rd foul with 7 to go and exits the game. The Nuggets are going on too many odd man drives that are not in their favor. They've got to start moving without the ball more. All Nugget's starters are now in at 3:30, up by 6. Wiz' are starting to pick up the defensive pressure, and as has been the case this season, it's working. Turnovers are now mounting for Denver, who clings to a 1 point lead at 1:40, as Gortat picks up his 3rd foul and exits. Soon after, the same is true for Gary Harris, who is replaced by Barton with 2 fouls of his own. I'd have gone with Beasley here. Inserting Barton nearly was a large mistake as he could have easily been called for a foul on yet another qtr ending shot by an opponent. Murray and Jokic lead Denver in TPM at +7, but the Wiz lead, 56-55 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Don't mind if I do!
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Qtr3- Two straight turnovers to start the 3rd by Jokic, bring his total up to 6. Wiz start the 3rd on a 7-2 run coming off of three Denver turnovers. The only Nugget with double figures in scoring is Jokic, with 16. Denver could REALLY use someone putting effort into retrieving offensive boards. Denver's offensive sets appear to be in slow motion. John Wall on the other hand, does not. Gortat picks up his 4th foul at 6:24 and he has to sit. Harris is getting good looks, they just refuse to drop. Denver is righting the ship a bit with improved defense. Wiz' are most definitely getting the benefit of the whistle in the 3rd qtr. Denver's bench is now playing as I'd predicted they would vs Washington's and they cut the lead to 2 with 1:30 left. Barton is starting to find his range and finally playing some D. Mahinmi gets his 4th, but must stay in with Gortat also in foul trouble. It's finally Denver's turn for a buzzer beater to land, this one by Barton, as the Nuggets cut the lead to one, 78-77 after three.
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Qtr 4- The bench unit plus Chandler and Jokic are out there to start the 4th. Not much in the way of offense or defense from this questionable unit (Jokic, Faried, Chandler, Barton & Mudiay) & the Wiz go on a 9-3 run, stretching their lead to 7 at 9:00. All of this Porter is making me crave a cold one. The Nuggets are starting to finally pick up the intensity following a time out. Washington inserts their starting five at 8:30. Mahinmi nabs his 5th foul on a 3 point miss by Big Honey, who drains all three FT's, yielding an assist for Barton and a hockey assist for Faried. Sap, Barton and Mudiay have now joined Jokic with double figures in scoring. Chandler is really struggling defensively tonight. Mudiay steals it from Wall and then drills a three on another two pass assist, and it bears repeating that Mudiay/Murray have done an excellent job defensively against Wall, and the Nuggets are moving the ball very well. On this night, turnovers have clearly been the downfall. With that said, they are still only down three, midway through the 4th. Sap and Jokic are getting good looks down low, but not converting. Jokic, with his first dunk of the season, and one, cuts it to 5, at 3:22. Too much iso ball for Denver, and they are failing to convert. Denver cuts it to 3 as Gortat fouls out at 1:30, with two Jokic FT's. Otto Porter is getting star calls in crunch time now? Weak. Jokic drills a 3, and Denver is down 2 with under a minute to go, but Wall answers right back with 2. Murray reciprocates, and it's 104-102 Wiz, with 0:32 to play. Poorly timed T by Jokic is highly mysterious, but yields a FT make for Beal, extending the lead to 3. Faried completely misses a defensive assignment (why was he in there for an offense/defense switch in the first place?) as Beal beats Murray for 2, to seal what was otherwise a HIGHLY win-able game for the Nuggets. Washington wins 109-104.
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Final Thoughts- Not a bad effort all around, but there is no such thing as a meaningless game or a moral victory in the exceedingly contentious western conference this season.
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