"A rematch on the coldest day of the young NBA season, in Denver"
Pre-Game Thoughts: Since these two teams just met a little over a week ago, there is not much to add, other than to say that RHJ had to leave the game last night against Phoenix with a hip contusion, and Booker has missed two in a row with an achy breaky back (can I ever relate) and while you never want to hear about players getting injured, the timing of Brooklyn's misfortune is good news for the Nuggets as both of these players gave Denver fits in the last meeting.
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
Brooklyn Roster:
Jeremy "Don't Get Into A Tweet Beef With A Harvard Grad Over Hair Of All Things" Lin
Spencer "All Growed Up Goatee" Dinwiddie
D'Angelo "How Does It Feel; AKA Like A Rolling Stone" Russell
Allen "Wants To Rule Land Of Earth" Crabbe "People"
Sean "Will" Kilpatrick "If I'm Not Generous In My Description Of His Pine Sittery"
Caris "Beuller... Beuller..." LeVert
Yakuba "Diawara AKA Toca La" Ouattara
DeMarre "Joe Barry" Carroll
Rondae "Thanksgiving In" Hollis-Jefferson
"I Guess He Turned Out To Be The Correct" Quincy "From Baylor On Draft Night, After all" Acy
Jacob "The Coyote" Wiley
Trevor "Hooker By Crooker" Booker
Timofey "I Heeta People Too" Mozgov
Update: Juancho is out with "The Kissing Disease" for the Nuggets. As for BK, Lin is out with a knee injury, Booker is out with a back injury, Allen is out with a foot injury & RHJ is out with the aforementioned hip bruise. In short; there is no excuse for the well rested Nuggets not to win this one against the hobbled Nets, who are playing on the 2nd night of a b2b.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
__________________________________________________________________________________________
TPM™ Game 11 BK
Jamal Murray: -3
Emmanuel Mudiay: +5
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +15
Will Barton: +10
Malik Beasley: +6
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: -4
Juancho Hernangomez: N/A
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: +14
Kenneth Faried: +1
Trey Lyles: +2
Darrell Arthur: +
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +38
Mason Plumlee +0
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 11 Games +92
Emmanuel Mudiay: 11 Games +148
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 11 Games +127
Will Barton: 11 Games +101
Malik Beasley: 11 Games +26
Torrey Craig: 0 Games +0
Wilson Chandler: 11 Games +51
Juancho Hernangomez: 2 Games -9
Richard Jefferson: 3 Games -2
Paul Millsap: 11 Games +119
Kenneth Faried: 10 Games +34
Trey Lyles: 7 Games +8
Darrell Arthur: 2 Games -4
Tyler Lydon: 0 Games +0
Nikola Jokic: 11 Games +167
Mason Plumlee: 11 Games +32
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +8.36
Emmanuel Mudiay: +13.45
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +11.55
Will Barton: +9.18
Malik Beasley: +2.36
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +4.64
Juancho Hernangomez: -4.50
Richard Jefferson: -0.67
Paul Millsap: +10.82
Kenneth Faried: +3.40
Trey Lyles: +1.14
Darrell Arthur: -2.00
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: +15.18
Mason Plumlee: +2.91
__________________________________________________________________________________________
TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 10:
*Credit to DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (very nerdy) baby (TPM™) is learning to speak
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr1- Same starting unit for Denver. BK is going with Russell, Dinwiddie, Crabbe, Carrol & Mozgov. Ally looks smashing in the light blue button up blouse and chandelier necklace tonight, though her "Gatsby" wrist-watch is a little "extra" for my liking. The Nuggets come out shooting cold, as is their wont, but we'll forgive that on this sub-freezing evening. Big Honey is more active defensively in the early going, than in any point in the season to date. Denver is 1-8 from the floor to start but they are forcing a lot of turnovers. Of course, BK isn't exactly discouraging that behavior with their idle passes. "Bartlee" are the first off the pine at 5:10 & 4:10 respectively, as always. Mudiay is in at 3:30. Denver's second unit + Sap & Harris are passing the ball exceptionally well, but failing to finish at the rim. There is no question that BK looks to be on tired legs tonight, at altitude on a back to back. I LOATHE but understand the fact that Mudiay doesn't attempt a 3/4 court shot with 1.5 seconds remaining in the QTR; probably the only thing I miss about "Anre", but The Nuggets are up 28-21 on the strength of their defense & are paced in TPM by Barton & Jokic, each with +7 after one.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr2- Beasley checked in at the tail end of the 1st, and Faried is in to open the 2nd, as has been the pattern this season, for the most part. Jokic is regressing to the mean defensively, and Denver is forced to call an early timeout at 10:16, with the Nets coming in hot. There have been enough bricks chucked tonight by the squads combined to build maybe not a house, but a sauna. Man that sounds pretty nice right about now, on so many levels. Ok, really just two. Two levels. Barton is on one of his runs, and the Nuggets extend the lead to 38-31 at 7:24. Play is getting sloppy for both teams, primarily in fast-break situations. Beasley got after it defensively in his short stint, but he checks out at 6:15, followed by Faried in short order. Everything is coming from the perimeter at the moment for Denver; obviously sub-ideal. BK is forced by injury to play small ball. Big Honey recognizes it and is taking advantage both in his passing and post chances. Bar none, this is as aggressive as Jokic has been this season in terms of hoisting up shots. Murray is invisible so far unfortunately. Sap has been superb defensively tonight, with his active hands. Jokic has 21 points already, firmly ahead of pace for a career high! Unlike Mudiay in the first period, Sap hoists a 75 footer that narrowly escapes banking in. No players for either team are in any serious foul trouble. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by 4 players in double digits; Barton +10, Millsap +12, Harris +13 and Jokic +21, as they lead 57-46 at the break.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Halftime: Smoke break? Sure, Why not. I'll Bundle up... Scratch that. My creaky back isn't having any of that.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr3- BK is going into launch mode from downtown on a night in which they couldn't throw a pea in the ocean, so I'd be surprised if the Nuggets don't put this one away relatively soon. Either the commercial breaks are shorter tonight, or I am just especially slow. Someone please inform Ally what the term literally, literally means. They should then pass along this same information to whomever is in charge of the Nuggets Twitter feed. Harris (5 steals) and Sap have been feasting on the lethargic Nets with their handy-work defensively, all night. Big Honey, The Anchorman & The People's Champion are all in double figures in scoring for Denver. For the second time this season, Murray is struggling to defend a left handed pg. Jokic is on 3d watch with 32-7-5, already his best stat-line for any single game on the season, when you consider his above average D tonight. Jokic has a 2d at 1:23. He has an outside shot at a career high in scoring (40) but with the score getting out of hand, and in need of 5 assists, the 3d seems unlikely, since he probably won't play much, if at all in the 4th period. He picks up his 4th foul with 0:13 to play, but that is not likely to factor into this one (see preceding sentence). Denver is paced by a sensational +34 TPM from Big Honey, on a night in which simply put, without shrouding the effectuality of his impact with even the slightest allotment of hyperbole, he possesses the presence of a man amongst boys, as Denver is blowing out the Nets 93-73 after three.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Qtr 4- Surprisingly, Jokic is still in there to start the 4th and he immediately goes to the charity stripe and sinks two. It seems Malone is intent on making that career high in scoring a reality for him tonight. Unfortunately, the gamble does not pay off as he picks up his 5th foul at 11:21, and has to check out. I fear that it'll likely be it for him tonight. Brilliant chase-down block by Beasley. Incredibly athletic, fast-twitch muscle fiber on display there. I Like that Malone is leaving Ill-Will in there with the bench squad to try to resuscitate his reeling offensive game. I don't however care for the fact that it is not necessarily working. Generally speaking the coach's rotations have been sound lately. Jokic is back in at 5:45. Good on you Malone! Harris now has an incredible 7 steals on the night, and Denver has 16, "an intergalactic record" says Marlowe. Big Honey has a new career high in scoring with 41! In true Jokic fashion, he immediately fouls out on the next trip back defensively on a shot block attempt (that wasn't a foul) so he can inadvertently be the recipient of a standing ovation and some ridiculous M-V-P chants, that the reluctant Serbian superstar clearly finds to be exceedingly amusing, given his humble nature. He takes a seat on the bench and immediately starts to cheer on the bench unit seemingly without a modicum of interest in the milestone he's surpassed tonight, and with good reason. This 22 year old point-center will undoubtedly eclipse this mark many times over, during the course of the next 15 years. He outscored the entire starting five for BK tonight by himself! Lyles has checked in and it is officially garbage (recycling) time. BK is making the score appear closer than this game was, but this was not at all in question since very early in the game. Jokic has a season high (for all Nuggets players) +38 TPM in addition to his career high 41 points, and Denver sweeps the season series with a final score of 112-104.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Final Thoughts-The outcome was predictable in this one, but the performance by Jokic was a true treat to watch. I'm not at all certain that Denver leaving in their starters as long as they did won't leave a bad taste in the mouth of the BK brain-trust, but fortunately the Nuggets won't be facing them again this year. Still, teams remember things like this, so aside from leaving in Jokic to pursue his goal, it may have been wise to have subbed out a few of the starters, after all, at that point the lead was in the 20s. Then again, the way the bench unit played, the game might have been in question had they done so. C'est la Vie. Viva La Nuggets!
__________________________________________________________________________________________
