The rematch that the Nuggets so badly desire... Just not yet; or "Timing is everything/Suicide is Painless."
Pre-Game Thoughts: Annoyed by the recent trend of journalists calling Louie CK "Louis", out of what I saw as self-righteous indignation and a perceived moral high-ground but not having the foresight to actually look into the spelling of his real last name (Szekely) to accurately accentuate their smug reporting I made a boo boo today. Just for context, I later learned Louis CK was actually the name he uses on his web page, Wikipedia etc, so it wasn't so much glib, lazy journalism as it was reporting what their story entailed and utilizing the easiest sources for nomenclature.
I swear I'm going somewhere with this guys, stick with me.
As a former passionate fan of his I, like most people I would assume, didn't want the rumors about his behavior to be true but given his owning up to his actions, I can only describe them as inexcusable. No unequivocally ALWAYS means no in these sorts of encounters and it is ALWAYS wrong to abuse power, money or prestige to coerce the innocent. The relevant point (at least on the outside layer of the onion) as it applies to this tangent however, is that in the past I never read about Louie in print, I just always heard his name, good ol' familiar "Louie."
Anywho, I made a Louie CK joke today. It was a Fight Club reference, something along the lines of "In career death, we have a name. Even in slight club. His name is Louis Szekely."
It went over like a Lead Zeppelin, that is to say, decidedly less successful than Led Zeppelin & with a palpable implied consensus of "too soon" echoing through the silence, like a shocked Pepsi Center crowd following a game clinching buzzer-beating bucket by Bryant in the aughts, as painful as it is to call back to that. In the end, the joke it seemed was squarely on me.
That is likely how the Nuggets felt about the recent keelhauling they received at the hands of the young and talented Lakers & assuredly how they feel about this match-up; They demand satisfaction, but would be vastly better off if their opportunity didn't occur at this very moment, with Chandler & Plumlee both ailing, Jokic & Millsap out and a mash unit that required an unconscious effort from Barton in their last game just to salvage victory against the worst team in the league (Chicago) by one measly point & at home no less, where they are miraculously 9-2 (tied for 2nd best in the NBA).
From the perspective of a Nuggets fan the previous meeting between these two squads was about as unsuccessful, distasteful and if at all possible, less funny than my joke. The Nuggets timing was off, the execution was clunky and had it been played in Denver I wouldn't have counted out rotten tomatoes being hurled. Who am I kidding, half of the people here are L.A. transplants and more than half of the Pepsi Center crowd will be donning Purple & Gold for this one.
It makes me long for the not-too-distant days of Nuggets past when they (and the Lakers) were contenders, the house was 75%-20% (5% abstained) in favor of Nuggets fans, and every time Kobe was at the FT line and the transplants attempted to start an M.V.P chant, I lead my section at center court, eleven rows up in a chant of "No Means No" (Sorry ladies & gents, I'm working blue today. Hell, somebody has to fill the void) that eventually overtook the L.A. contingent and involved the entire crowd by game's end. It was one my my shining moments in Nuggetry.
Too soon?
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And now what none of you come here for; how about some basketball nerdery?!?! (After these messages... Er Nicknames)
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
L.A. Lakers Roster:
Lonzo "It Was My Brother!" Ball
Jordan "Dodged That Kardashian Bullet" Clarkson
Kentavious "The Pontiff" Caldwell-Pope
"La" Vander Blue "Dilly Dilly"
Alex "Robinson... Er... David... Hell, Call Me The Admiral" Caruso
Josh "Not The One With The Sex Tape (I Assume)" Hart
Luol "Am I Seriously Still Here?" Deng
Andrew "The Crostrailian" Bogut
Thomas "The Best Laker Ever Named" Bryant
Ivica "Make Some Trades, I'm Not G-League Material" Zubac
Update: Millsap had successful left wrist surgery and is expected back some time around the all star break. Jokic is out for "a few games" with a sprained ankle/stress ridden mind. Chandler is questionable with a sore back and Plumlee is probable with a strain of the abdominal muscles for the Nuggets. As for the Lakers, Kuzma is probable and there are no other significant injuries to report aside from a bruised ego for Denver & L.A.'s mutually disliked ex head-coach, Brian Shaw.
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 22 LAL
Jamal Murray: +33
Emmanuel Mudiay: +8
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +17
Will Barton: +11
Malik Beasley: N/A
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: N/A
Juancho Hernangomez: +1
Richard Jefferson: +3
Paul Millsap: N/A
Kenneth Faried: +7
Trey Lyles:+18
Darrell Arthur: -4
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: N/A
Mason Plumlee +8
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 22 Games +214
Emmanuel Mudiay: 22 Games +231
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 20 Games +269
Will Barton: 22 Games +220
Malik Beasley: 19 Games +38
Torrey Craig: 1 Game +0
Wilson Chandler: 18 Games +107
Juancho Hernangomez: 11 Games -17
Richard Jefferson: 7 Games +1
Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173
Kenneth Faried: 19 Games +47
Trey Lyles: 17 Games +51
Darrell Arthur: 3 Games -8
Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3
Nikola Jokic: 21 Games +314
Mason Plumlee: 22 Games +66
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +9.73
Emmanuel Mudiay: +10.50
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +13.26
Will Barton: +10.00
Malik Beasley: +2.00
Torrey Craig: +0.00
Wilson Chandler: +5.94
Juancho Hernangomez: -1.55
Richard Jefferson: +0.13
Paul Millsap: +10.81
Kenneth Faried: +2.47
Trey Lyles: +3.00
Darrell Arthur: -2.67
Tyler Lydon: -3.00
Nikola Jokic: +14.95
Mason Plumlee: +3.00
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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 21:
*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, Juancho, Faried & Plumlee. The Lakers roll with Ball, Pope, Ingram, Nance & Lopez. Ally is going as The Black Widow this evening. Very sexy if I may say so in today's volatile social climate. It's my piece, so yes, I may. Fat Lever is having his Jersey retired many years too late IMHO. I was too young to appreciate his game while he was in Denver, but he would have been by far the best PG in the league during his tenure had it not been for a couple of stiffs called Magic Johnson & John Stockton. Denver is wearing the new uniforms for the first time; not a fan. The best thing about the old skyline uni's was the segmented rainbow colors, not this gold block eyesore. The Nuggets look energized out of the gate. Nance, at 9:10 nabs his 2nd foul after a sweet dish by Murray to Plumlee yields two FT's and in a Christmas miracle, he sinks two. Ingram gets his 2nd foul at 8:15 and Denver is cooking. I love this aggressive play. It's NOT an x-mas miracle that the outside shots are falling when the players are attacking. It looks like good Murray is making his first appearance in several games. Oh my, good Murray and good Juancho on the same night? I can't believe my eyes. The Blue Arrow is already the first Nugget in double figures at 7:20 with Denver up nine. Barton & Lyles are in off the pine at 4:20 (smoke 'em if you've got 'em). Holy hell, we have a Darth sighting at 3:15. Murray picks up his 2nd foul at 2:13 and he's replaced by Mudiay. What a weird rotation; R.J. is now in with Darth. Lyles looks excellent as well for Denver as they lead 34-22 at 1:45. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Lyles +8 & Murray +9 and lead 34-29 after one.
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Qtr2- The Same group (Darth, R.J., Barton, Lyles & Mudiay) are swiftly regressing and L.A. has the lead down to 4 at 10:41. Faried checks in for the highly ineffective Darth at this time. Lyles is the 2nd Nugget in double digits at 10:20. Unfortunately, it appears as though we have bad Barton on this evening. This is why we can't have nice things! Faried's insertion, despite his not necessarily having much tangible affect on the game in terms of statistics, has brought energy to the lineup and Denver extends the lead to 8. I'm a little sad to be missing the UFC fights of three Colorado fighters tonight: Cejudo, Torres and especially Gaethje, but duty calls. Harris & Plumlee check in at 6:35 after a nice long rest. Murray is in soon after. A fine effort by the Nuggets reserves tonight vs a very good Lakers 2nd unit. The Nuggets have forgotten how to function on offense and L.A. has cut it to one at 5:54. Unfortunately, Murray is as bad defensively as he is good on the other end tonight it seems. I'm not certain why he is no longer the force he was early in the year on D; it could be a matter of energy allocation. L.A. now has a 6 point lead as their starters are outplaying their Nuggets counterparts, though much of it can be blamed on an ineffective Barton. Juancho is in for him at 3:17. Harris is starting to assert himself for the first time tonight, something Denver can not win without in this one & the Nuggets tie it up at 1:49. The Lakers are in the bonus at this point which may not be all together a bad thing since they are the NBA's worst FT shooters. Ingram has his 3rd foul with :46 to play. Harris is the 3rd Nugget in double figures. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +10, Harris +11 & Murray + 12 but trail 59-55 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Not tonight. Gotta' see Fat's number 12 hung from the rafters.
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Qtr3- Tecia Torres seems to have won the first round of her fight. L.A. scores the first four and now have their biggest lead at 8. Denver may just not have enough star power to pull this one out tonight. Torres seemingly lost the 2nd round but definitely won the 3rd & we are awaiting a decision at this point. She wins a unanimous decision! A ridiculous 360 layup by Harris results in two. It's hard to imagine that not being the ESPN play of the night. This has gotten the crowd into it and the Nuggets cut the lead to two at 7:41. Ugggh, I don't want to miss this Gaethje fight. Faried's activity on the offensive glass seems to be a direct result of the fans and I wish it didn't always take that for him. I was wrong, we have bad Juancho yet again tonight. Denver regains the lead at 4:30 after a steal by Murray results in a bucket for Faried, who is the 4th Denver player in double digits. The very next play yields the exact same result; Murray steal, Faried layup. This has been an excellent QTR for Murray on both ends. It is great to see him make a defensive turnaround mid-game like this. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +10, Harris +15 & Murray +21 but trail by 2 after three, 80-78.
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Qtr4- Gaethje it seems, has lost the first round of his fight with former champ Eddie Alvarez. He's eating a lot of body shots and uppercuts. R.J. is struggling defensively in this QTR. The Lakers lead by 5 at 8:45. The 2nd round was too close to call, but Alvarez has a huge hematoma on his jaw. Mudiay is having a good 4th and is the main reason Denver is still in this, down 6 at 8:02. Alvarez' left leg looks like hamburger at the moment after seemingly hundreds of perfectly placed leg kicks by Gaethje who is knocked out, from out of nowhere by an Alvarez knee. I didn't see that coming at all, and apparently, neither did Justin. Glad I mostly missed the fight after all, due to poorly timed commercial breaks. Gaethje is no longer undefeated. Plumlee is the 5th Nugget to reach double figures as the Nuggets trail by three with 6:13 to play. It perturbs me to no end to be hearing "KUUUUUUUUZ" wafting from the Pepsi center crowd whenever he scores, but what can I say? L.A. is a great place to be from, Denver is the place to be. Barton ties it up at 98 with 4:51 to play. Ball has very quietly neared a 3d tonight though it's doubtful he'll get the required assists in regulation. The Nuggets take the lead after picking up the D but relinquish it after an inability to rebound a Lonzo air-ball three attempt. Barton is the 6th Nugget in double figures at 3:42 as Denver retakes the lead. The Nuggets have distributed their fouls nicely and have no one in foul trouble as a result. Murray nails a three at 2:40, then draws a charge and the Nuggets extend the lead to 7 at 2:25 on the strength of a 13-2 run. Lyles extends the lead to nine and this looks to be going in the direction of a victory for the good guys. Barton seems to have sealed it at :45 with Denver now leading by 11 and that'll do it. Big win! The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Barton +11, Harris +17, Lyles +18 & Murray +33 & they emerge victorious out of left field, 115-100
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Final Thoughts: This was a massive team victory and I don't feel like I'm overstating things when I say it was likely the biggest win of the season given the circumstances.
I didn't love Murray dogging Lonzo at the end there, but they were both chirping at one another for the better part of the 4th so who knows what was said. Still, it's better to avoid things like that until you are a more established player. Not atypical of a 20 year old millionaire, but still, not a great look for Jamal.
Denver needs to find a way to get Lyles more minutes even once Big Honey returns. It's clear to me that he's at this earlier stage already a more impactful player than Faried and Plumlee in this system.
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