One of the better team photos I've come across this season. Get well soon Gordon.
T.K.O.P.H.
Still keepin' the seats warm for Big Honey & The Anchorman.
Denver could salvage a highly successful road trip despite a .500 record therein, with an improbable win in Boston tonight.
Pre-Game Thoughts: The Nuggets wrap up this 6 game eastern swing sporting a wounded mash unit of a rotation. With that being said, they have had three straight games of largely team oriented basketball while playing with 4 injured starters, two of which are actually bench players filling in for Jokic and Millsap, so in my eyes a 2-4 road trip is downright respectable but if they were to somehow pull this one out and get Big Honey back upon return, I'd be downright giddy with the results.
Given the aforementioned circumstances, that is highly unlikely.
Horford is out for Boston but they have a very good center in Baynes hoping to take up the slack for him and likely the deepest team in terms of back-court/wings in the NBA, even with the unfortunate injury to Hayward (who is getting out of his walking boot soon and seems to be ahead of schedule). Their one area of concern depth wise is in their front court and they don't have much in the way of rim protection. This is made even worse by the absence tonight of both Morris and Horford.
I've not been soft on Faried lately so it's hard for me to request a big game out of him in this one but that might be precisely what the Nuggets need tonight. He didn't play in the last game, which I speculate may have been partly due to the defensive hole the Nuggets operate from within when he's on the court, so at the very least he is rested. If Denver could couple this with Mudiay hearkening back to his career game in Boston last season, also on the heels of a back to back game, the Nuggets could conceivably pull this one out. I'm not counting on it but stranger things have happened.
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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
Boston Roster:
Shane "Hear The Larkin Hearken To The Barking Of The Dog Fox" -Pink Floyd's Grandchester Meadows.
Jabari "The Best Celtic Ever Named" Bird
Guerschon "Gesundheit" Yabusele
Update: Millsap had successful left wrist surgery and is expected back some time around the all star break. Jokic is Questionable with a sprained ankle, Barton is probable with a bruised lower back. Murray is probable with a strained calf, Chandler is probable with a sore back and Plumlee is probable with a strain of the abdominal muscles for the Nuggets. As for Boston, Horford is out, resting a nagging knee injury, as is Morris. Hayward is still out with the ankle injury & Irving is probable despite a Quad injury.
Update part deux: Barton isn't able to go but Big Honey is available!
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 29 BOS
Jamal Murray: +14
Emmanuel Mudiay: -1
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +33
Will Barton: N/A
Malik Beasley: +3
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +14
Juancho Hernangomez: +0
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: N/A
Kenneth Faried: +3
Trey Lyles: +6
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: N/A
Mason Plumlee: -12
Ally: +3
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 28 Games +257
Emmanuel Mudiay: 28 Games +278
Monte Morris: 1 Game +1
Gary Harris: 26 Games +365
Will Barton: 27 Games +272
Malik Beasley: 25 Games +64
Torrey Craig: 1 Game +0
Wilson Chandler: 24 Games +182
Juancho Hernangomez: 15 Games -14
Richard Jefferson: 8 Games -2
Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173
Kenneth Faried: 24 Games +51
Trey Lyles: 23 Games +124
Darrell Arthur: 4 Games -11
Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3
Nikola Jokic: 21 Games +314
Mason Plumlee: 28 Games +68
Ally: 28 Games +675674763
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +9.18
Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.93
Monte Morris: +1.00
Gary Harris: +14.04
Will Barton: +10.07
Malik Beasley: +2.56
Torrey Craig: +0.00
Wilson Chandler: +7.58
Juancho Hernangomez: -0.93
Richard Jefferson: -0.25
Paul Millsap: +10.81
Kenneth Faried: +2.13
Trey Lyles: +5.39
Darrell Arthur: -2.75
Tyler Lydon: -3.00
Nikola Jokic: +14.95
Mason Plumlee: +2.43
Ally: 28 Games: +24131241 (Don't sweat it Dom. Only tracking her tonight so my formula for grading her wardrobe can remain mysterious. No need to add her to the spreadsheet.)
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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 27:
*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, Lyles & Plumlee. Boston trots out Irving, Smart, Brown, Tatum, & Baynes. Ally is going with the shoulder pads for the 2nd time this season; -4TPM. I absolutely love inserting Lyles into the starting lineup and hope that he can remain there until 'Sap is 'Sap again. Lyles gets it going with a thunderous dunk on Tatum followed by a three. Donovan who? Harris is also hot and Denver is 6-6 from the field, 2-2 from distance en route to a 14-8 lead at 8:58. BOS cuts it to one on two straight drives against Murray. He and Harris are taking turns burning a hole in my pad of paper tonight. Boston retakes the lead by one at 4:54. Faried is the first man off the pine at this point along with Beasley for the 4th game in a row. Harris is the first Nugget in double figures at 4:04. Juancho comes in at 3:57. Mudiay is in at 2:26. Gimme some Honey Malone! Faried is hustling but can't buy one from close range on 3 straight possessions. He is extremely active as I predicted. Denver is paced in TPM by Harris +9, only Beasley (-3) is in the red and they lead 31-30 after one.
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Qtr2- Tatum looks like a player. There's no reason to believe he won't develop into an all around star given his physical gifts, if he so desires. The Celtics are picking up the defensive intensity and for once the Nuggets aren't wilting. Nonetheless, BOS extends the lead to three at 8:56. Smart gets a huge block on Chandler providing evidence that defense is more about desire than size. HAHA! Marlowe calls back to his U.C. Irvine anteater dirty joke from last night. LOVE IT! The lead has ballooned to 9 on the strength of an 8-0 run by Boston. Malone's response is to insert Harris, Plumlee and Lyles. Mudiay is playing decent D on Larkin who is simply scoring anyway. BOS leads by 5 at 5:43. TERRIBLE goal tending call against Plumlee, who swatted it just as it left Browns hand. Brown/Tatum/Baynes are 11-12 from the floor thus far. No beuno. I'm very impressed by Aaron Baynes and his battle with Plumlee is shaping up to be very fun to watch. The Celtics lead by 6 at 2:42. Murray and Mudiay are getting some extended burn together for the first time in a while. Plumlee is the 2nd Nugget in double figures. The lead is now 11 and the crowd is getting involved with :56 to go. Lyles nabs his third foul and must exit at :50 but doesn't, inexplicably. Luckily Malone pulls his head out and replaces him with Beasley on the next dead ball. Baynes picks up his 3rd foul with moments left in the half sending Malik to the line for two. Denver is paced in TPM by Harris +9 but trail 59-68 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? But of course.
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Qtr3- Brrrr! There's a storm a' blowin' in to this dusty ol' cow town ladies and gents. Excellent halftime interview By Ally with coach Bowen; +7 TPM. Man, does Baynes ever set a solid screen! Denver is listless out of the gate and the Celtics lead by 13 at 9:57. The Nuggets are now matching the intensity of BOS and cut the lead to 7 on an & one by Chandler at 8:41. Jaylen Brown also looks like a solid two way player and this team has a very bright future, not to mention present. Chandler is the third Nugget in double figures, followed in short order by Murray. The Celtics lead is 7 at 6:59. Denver is picking it up a notch on the defensive end. Consecutive threes by Chandler and Murray cut it to two at 5:31 on the strength of a 9-0 run. The Nuggets are 8-10 from the floor in the period. Denver wants this win to make it a 3-3 road trip and that's refreshing to see out of this young team. They tie it on a Harris tip in at 3:18. He is doing the bulk of the heavy lifting for the Nuggets. Juancho, Beasley and Faried check in at 2:04 with the lead now 6 for BOS. Harris cuts it to one with a viscous drive and dunk followed by a three. No players for either team are in any sort of serious foul trouble. Denver is paced in TPM by Chandler +11 & Harris +27, only Plumlee is negative (-3) and the Nuggets trail 92-97 after three.
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Qtr4- The Nuggets begin the 4th with a Chandler + bench alignment and Boston extends the lead to eight at 10:11. Everyone in this unit is getting in the way of each other seemingly on every play, on both ends and if they want to win this one the time is now to make a substitution or two Malone. He disagrees and the lead is now 12 at 9:00. The starters + Faried - Plumlee finally enter at 8:10, down by 12. Quirky jump ball with .07 on the shot clock results somehow in a three by Harris! He has a career high 29. Plumlee replaces Faried and the starting unit is in tact now at 6:40, with Denver down just 7. Irving seems to be a vastly improved defender one on one likely through osmosis with this stout defensive club. He is still as porous as ever in the P&R however. Does BOS have anyone the Nuggets can hack-a-Shaq? The lead is 11 at 5:34. Someone needs to teach Lyles how to set a screen. Faried is a lost cause in that department. The refs are letting them play and by them of course I mean the C's. It's not looking likely for the good guys, with the lead still eleven, 3:35 to go and the type of D that Boston plays. Harris has for the 2nd time this season, an exceedingly creative/acrobatic, ESPN top play of the night on a drive resulting in an & one and the lead is down to 8. He has a career high 36. Plumlee has struggled all night in close-outs, usually after switching defensively. The lead is down to 6 on a Murray three at 0:32 and it's time to play the foul game. Irving hits 1-2 followed by another Murray three and the lead is 4. Irving hits 2 with 0:16 to play and that about seals it. Murray has (perhaps his first career?) 2d. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray & Chandler +14 & Harris +33 but lose a close one 124-118 in Bean-town.
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Final Thoughts: This was believe it or not, an encouraging defeat if there is such a thing. The schedule gets no kinder for the Nuggets despite coming home so it's time for a hot injection of Honey.
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We Suck Again!
