"Black & Blue, battered & bruised Black-Friday basketball battle betwixt binarily broken Bears, behind Houston heartache"
Pre-Game Thoughts: I'm alliterate! Tonight's opponent, just like the Nuggets have lost one of their top two players for a long period of time and are struggling in the aftermath (losers of 6 straight & 9-11). Chalmers has stepped in admirably (shooting numbers aside) and had a few big games, and Tyreke Evans has been a huge lift for them, but as we are learning from the Millsap injury, there is no "next man up" when it comes to replacing an all star talent such as Conley, and it wreaks havoc on the rotations and bench depth.
How much of a role will tryptophan play into this contest? Well if you ask me, it looked as if the Nuggets pre-endulged prior to the Houston unpleasantness on Wednesday, so your guess is as good as mine.
I hope none of you are taking part in the maddening consumer "holiday" that is Black-Friday, and are instead choosing to spend a second day with your loved ones. I'm about to do exactly that. Catch you after the game with my recap.
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
Memphis Roster:
Mike "The Condor? I Dunno" Conley
Mario "Super Nintendo" Chalmers
Tyreke "Break Glass In Case Of Shit Creek" Evans
Andrew "This Team Is The First I've Encountered In Which Ascribing Nicknames is Difficult" Harrison
Chandler "Petrie Dish" Parsons
Dillon "The Chillin' Villan" Brooks
James "Every Third Grizzly Or So Has The Name Of An Aristocrat" Ennis III
Vince "Half Man, Half Meh" Hunter
JaMychal "Christ Almighty" Green
Jarell "Sorry Y'all, I Can't With This" Martin
Ivan "The Likely Terrible" Rabb
Update: Millsap is still mulling his options, but out indefinitely. Chandler is probable with a sore back for the Nuggets. As for the Grizz, Conley is out indefinitely with an achy Achilles, Rabb is on concussion protocol, Wright with a groin injury & Seldon with a quad injury.
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 19 MEM
Jamal Murray: +17
Emmanuel Mudiay: +0
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +19
Will Barton: +5
Malik Beasley: +0
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +6
Juancho Hernangomez: +2
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: N/A
Kenneth Faried: +0
Trey Lyles:+6
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +38
Mason Plumlee +9
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 19 Games +192
Emmanuel Mudiay: 19 Games +212
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 17 Games +215
Will Barton: 19 Games +179
Malik Beasley: 18 Games +32
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler: 18 Games +107
Juancho Hernangomez: 8 Games -4
Richard Jefferson: 5 Games -7
Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173
Kenneth Faried: 16 Games +37
Trey Lyles: 14 Games +34
Darrell Arthur: 2 Games -4
Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3
Nikola Jokic: 19 Games +299
Mason Plumlee: 19 Games +52
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +10.11
Emmanuel Mudiay: +11.16
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +12.65
Will Barton: +9.42
Malik Beasley: +1.78
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +5.94
Juancho Hernangomez: -0.50
Richard Jefferson: -1.40
Paul Millsap: +10.81
Kenneth Faried: +2.31
Trey Lyles: +2.43
Darrell Arthur: -2.00
Tyler Lydon: -3.00
Nikola Jokic: +15.74
Mason Plumlee: +2.74
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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 17:
*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (nerdy) baby (TPM™) learned to speak
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Analysis:
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Qtr1- The Nuggets go with Murray, Harris, Chandler Faried (after serving his one game suspension for giving Wes Unseld the game ball for starting him) & Jokic. Memphis rolls out Chalmers, Brooks, Parsons, Green & Gasol. Mustard with fuchsia lipstick Ally? No! Faried is Jumping center but Denver still has yet to win an opening tip on the year. Tonight is no different. If Gasol and Jokic were left-handed MLB pitchers, they'd both be described as Crafty. Memphis may have the least athletic starting five in the league, in it's current incarnation. Murray looks good to start, therefor he'll have a monster game. It's pretty much how it's been for him thus far. Brooks gets his 2nd foul at 6:24 which is bad news because it means 'Reke is coming in. Denver leads by one at 5:12. Lyles and Barton check in at this point. Plumlee replaces Jokic at 3:48, just after Gasol checked out. Murray is moving very well without the ball tonight, something he needs to remember to do on the road as well. Mudiay checks in for him at 2:00. Gasol is back in after a VERY brief breather. The Nuggets expand the lead to 9 with a minute to play, which is encouraging considering how the bench has performed since Sap went down. Lyles looks to have a better understanding of P&R D than any of the other big men; also encouraging since he's known as an offensive player. Martin nabs his 2nd foul with the QTR nearing it's end. Beasley is in for Harris for the final 3 seconds for some reason. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray +14 and I'm happy to report that no Nugget players are in the Negative for a change, as Denver leads 27-18 after one.
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Qtr2- Beasley checks back out after a mere three seconds of action. Raw deal if you ask me. Juancho is in to start the 2nd and he draws an offensive foul. Denver is 2-8 at the line so far. Yuck! Plumlee & Juancho look drastically better than in recent games. Denver is getting good minutes out of the 2nd unit. Lyles looks as good as he has all season tonight, which believe it or not is saying something since he's had only one stinker. Davis gets his 3rd foul at 7:15. Jokic comes in just after Gasol checks out up 11; this bodes well. Denver's starters start filtering in at 6:45. No player has reached double figures for either team at 5:21. Davis nabs his 4th foul at 4:37. I'm not certain why he was still out there to get it. Denver is now 4-12 from the FT line! WTF?!?! The Nuggets are really opening things up now with their well rested starters on the floor and take an 18 point lead at 2:41. Big Honey is the first player for Denver in double figures. I can not understate just how vital it is to get extended, good minutes out of the bench unit. Harris is having trouble finishing through contact at the rim. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Murray +12 and Jokic +18, only Faried (-1) is in the red and they lead 59-42 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Yes indeedie!
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Qtr3- Murray is the 2nd Nugget in double digits at 11:45, followed by Harris at 10:00. Parsons slaughters the bejesuz out of Jokic and until a late call occurred I thought we might have a repeat performance of the Lakers game. Murray with a sweet left handed block, his 2nd on the night at 9:00. The Grizz are playing with grit and have cut it to 14 at 7:30. Denver is now 9-19 at the line and I wish I could smoke inside my house. The statistician (or algorithm) is being exceedingly generous with the assists but currently it's working in Jokic's favor as he has an outside shot at his 1st 3d of the year, which is obviously not happening since I made mention of it. It's good to see ex-Nugget Nick Van Exel in the house. Denver's D is getting lazy and the lead is now 13 at 4:30. The lead is down to 10 at 3:15 following more of the aforementioned lazy D. Gasol is fortunately ice-cold from down town. Barton just chucked his 2nd, well covered, iso, air-ball from three followed by a Brooks three on the other end and suddenly it's a 7 point game! Memphis is getting physical and Denver is wilting, as is their wont. Memphis is on a 24-9 run at 2:00. Barton now has three air-balls from downtown! Drive maybe? It is now a 4 point game as Denver has failed to realize that P&R is less effective on offense when the D switches everything but continue to run it. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Harris +10, Murray +16 and Jokic +20, but are up by only two after an ugly third, in which they were outscored 29-15 and it's anybody's game now, 76-74 Denver after three.
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Qtr4- Three Nuggets starters are in to open the 4th, Harris, Murray & Jokic. It sure would be nice if the Nuggets had a FT cushion to fall back on right about now. Harris is Colombian neck-tied after a veteran steal on a timing maneuver and I'm not sure why it's not being reviewed as a flagrant. I don't believe it was but they've looked at less egregious fouls. The teams are trading buckets & it's a 6 point lead for the Nuggets at 8:13. This may be Jokic's best game of the year; not from a statistical standpoint, though his numbers are great but in terms of leadership as well as defense. Juancho is getting some extended burn as the only non-starter in there for Chandler. The 3d is looking to be a very real possibility now as Jokic is just one rebound and 2 assists shy, so the prediction I make every single game may have been just one game (or 18, depending on how you look at it) late essentially. The lead is pushed to 9 at 6:31. Jokic now has a 2d. Juancho drills a three and the spread is more comfortable now at 14 with 5:00 to play. Chalmers is playing very impressively down the stretch, as you'd expect from a seasoned, 2 time champion. Faried is the 4th Nugget in double figures at 2:53. Juancho is starting to look like he may turn out to be a decent defender after all. He's just gotta work on those closeouts and add some muscle. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray +17, Harris +19 & Jokic +38, nobody was a net negative & they win 104-92.
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Final Thoughts: Could have gone more smoothly, but it's a W. Good to see Juancho rounding into shape.
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