Thad sees a mermaid off the starboard bow.
Amazing Grace: The one trade with Indiana in which Denver wasn't undressed.
Still keepin' the seats warm for Big Honey & The Anchorman.
Denver attempts to play spoiler and gain traction in a road date with Indy.
Pre-Game Thoughts: Indiana may be without three starters and have six players who are questionable or out, but I'm not about to cry for them given the Nuggets perpetual, historical injury situation to their stars (particularly Power forwards as I illustrated in this piece), not to mention that the majority of my teenage years were marred by senseless fleecings, seemingly every season when the Nuggets attempted to make trades with the Pacers. To those of you who are younger Indy fans, whomever the GM was back then, if he's still alive, you want him back.
The outcome of this game is anyone's guess given all of the lineup uncertainty for Indiana and Denver obviously playing without Jokic and Millsap. Only a fool would bet on this game. Only a fool would bet on sports in the first place but especially in this one. I kinda love that nearly every viable player for Indy is either a game time decision or playing hurt, obviously not because I wish injury on any player, nor do I enjoy not being able to see teams at their best but because of the schadenfreude involved in watching gamblers lose money. Turner is also not 100% (as has reflected in my fantasy results) so go ahead and hate your money. Bet away.
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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
Indiana Roster:
Cory "I Just Don't Trust A Man With Two First Names" Joseph
"American Idol" Victor Oladipo
Glenn "Little Dog" Robinson III
"Last Chance" Lance Stephenson
Damien "Holy Shit! Still?" Wilkins
Bojan "My Parents Aren't Creative, But They Can Likely Shoot" Bogdanovic
Myles "Steve Urkel (his actual alias)" Turner
Ike "I Captured Donald Trump" Anigbogu
Domantas "Unless You're Nurkic, My Dad Could Definitely Beat Up Your Dad" Sabonis
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 probable with a sore back and Plumlee is probable with a strain of the abdominal muscles for the Nuggets. As for Indy, Collison (left knee), Bojan (ankle), Stephenson (Ankle) & Young (right thigh) are all questionable. Robinson (ankle) & Sumner (knee) are both out.
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Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
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TPM™ Game 26 IND
Jamal Murray: +6
Emmanuel Mudiay: +6
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +0
Will Barton: +27
Malik Beasley: -1
Torrey Craig: N/A
Wilson Chandler: +16
Juancho Hernangomez: N/A
Richard Jefferson: N/A
Paul Millsap: N/A
Kenneth Faried: -7
Trey Lyles: +15
Darrell Arthur: N/A
Tyler Lydon: N/A
Nikola Jokic: N/A
Mason Plumlee +4
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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta
Jamal Murray: 26 Games +220
Emmanuel Mudiay: 26 Games +280
Monte Morris: 0 Games +0
Gary Harris: 24 Games +311
Will Barton: 26 Games +260
Malik Beasley: 23 Games +62
Torrey Craig: 1 Game +0
Wilson Chandler: 22 Games +141
Juancho Hernangomez: 13 Games -12
Richard Jefferson: 8 Games -2
Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173
Kenneth Faried: 23 Games +48
Trey Lyles: 21 Games +98
Darrell Arthur: 3 Games -8
Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3
Nikola Jokic: 21 Games +314
Mason Plumlee: 26 Games +68
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Avg. TPM™ Per Game
Jamal Murray: +8.46
Emmanuel Mudiay: +10.77
Monte Morris: N/A
Gary Harris: +12.96
Will Barton: +10.00
Malik Beasley: +2.70
Torrey Craig: +0.00
Wilson Chandler: +6.41
Juancho Hernangomez: -0.92
Richard Jefferson: -0.25
Paul Millsap: +10.81
Kenneth Faried: +2.09
Trey Lyles: +4.67
Darrell Arthur: -2.67
Tyler Lydon: -3.00
Nikola Jokic: +14.95
Mason Plumlee: +2.62
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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 23:
*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, Barton, Chandler and Plumlee. Indy rolls out Joseph, 'Dipo, Bojan, Young & Turner. It's too bad that Jokic is out cause it's fun to see these mutually admiring centers do battle. Ally is going with a one shoulder black pageant dress tonight and looks smashing as always. Denver wins their first opening tip of the season! This game is ova! -Jason Kosmiski. Chandler drills his first two threes. What is this, Bizarro world? Denver is cookin' early and lead 13-7 on the strength of a 7-0 run at 9:24. Chandler is already in double figures and looks to have turned back the clock as Young nabs his 2nd foul at 7:21. Wait, Bojan and Bogdan are not related? Son of a! So much for my nickname. Chandler is now 3-3 from downtown and Denver leads by 8 at 4:22. Indy is now starting to get some of those steals we were told about and are converting most of them into points. Beasley is again the first man off the bench at 3:32. Mudiay, Lyles and Faried are in at 2:08. Sabonis gets his 2nd foul at 1:08 with Denver up ten. Beasley is once again looking very good on both ends. The Nuggets are paced by Chandler's +12 TPM and lead 35-22 after one.
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Qtr2- The Nuggets are off to a 7-4 run in the second with the bench unit + Barton, forcing McMillan to burn a timeout at 9:54. Lyles is very aggressive on offense and clearly wants to put up good numbers in the city where he played high school Ball. Sabonis is too much to handle down low for Faried. Denver is playing very well with the exception of that match-up, on both ends and the lead is up to 17 at 6:42. Barton is the 2nd Nugget in double digits & seems to be playing better D tonight. The starters are in for Denver, up 14 at 4:22. Immediately Indiana seizes momentum and cuts it to ten at 2:40. Barton is chewing holes in my pad of paper at the moment but is largely a plus performer thus far. The refs are swallowing their whistles simultaneously with Indy playing more aggressively on D and the lead is down to 7 with less than a minute to play. Denver is paced in TPM by Barton +13 & Chandler +14 and lead 66-59 at the half.
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Halftime: Smoke break? Okie dokie Smokie.
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Qtr3- A sloppy start for both teams to the third period. The Nuggets have got to get some sort of contribution out of Murray. Plumlee is taking his turn burning a hole in my pad. Indy has the lead down to three with 7:10 to go. Chandler is the third Nugget in double figures with a season high tying 18. Morris has apparently been called up from the G league. I might have to change his nickname. Same song and dance; Faried checks in, Indy winds up with Turner posting up on Murray 2 plays in a row. It's as if teams have scouting reports or something. Indy ties it up at 4:02. Murray is the 4th Nugget in double figures as Denver retakes the lead at 2:49. The Disco Hastings? Indy has the lead with 1:00 to play and the momentum resides squarely with them. Lyles is the 5th Nugget in double figures. No players are in any sort of foul trouble for either team. The Nuggets are paced in TPM by Mudiay +10, Barton +13 and Chandler +20 but trail 90-88 after three.
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Qtr4- Mudiay is predictably not sharp offensively tonight after his big game in ORL. Unfortunately that's just what we can expect at this point from the young PG's for the Nuggets. Denver is only down 4 at 10:50 but the game has the feel of a much larger spread. It's starting to get physical. Bojan looks an awful lot like Austin Croshere in that Pacers Uni. Denver retakes the lead with a Lyles three, on the strength of a 7-0 run. He sticks another for good measure. Considering that none of the injured starters for Indy are out, this would be a huge win if Denver can pull it out against a very good club, on the road. Barton is now running the point at 5:50 with a 4 point lead. Oladipo is killing Harris/Faried in the P&R. Lyles is now 5-6 from three and Barton is smartly going to him. It is eerily silent in Bankers life, insert corporate tripe advertisement whatever right now. Either that or they have high powered mics in play tonight cause you can really hear all of the chatter on the court. Lyles is clearly executing what he set out to do in one of his home-towns and carrying the Nuggets to an 8 point lead at 3:51. Faried has three fouls on offensive screens in the 2nd half and he now has 5. Harris is PISSED after a bad foul called against him and sticks a three followed by a fierce offensive rebound. The Nuggets are up 6 with just 1:42 to play. Lance is imploring the corporate center to awaken with Indy trailing by 4 and 1:07 to play. Barton goes hero ball and bricks a three, but luckily 'Dipo does the same on the next possession. The Denver lead is two with :24 to go. Indy is going for the last shot. 'Dipo has it and misses a layup but Harris fails to get the board, resulting in a layup by Young and it's tied with :06 to play. Barton misses the J and we're going to OT.
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OT: This is the first OT game of the season for the Nuggets IIRC. Oladipo is doing breathing exercises on the sideline. Denver is coming out of the shoot looking like amateurs. They are only down four at 3:52 but it doesn't look good. Indy has all the momentum on a 17-0 run, 9-0 in OT and the lead is 7 with 3:02 to play. Denver hasn't scored in over 5 minutes. This has not been a good game for Harris defensively. Make it a 19-0 run for the Pacers. Denver is getting nothing but contested jumpers, late in the shot clock. Ok, 'Dipo is good, but MVP chants? Denver FINALLY scores! Too bad it was on the last possession of overtime. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +15, Chandler +16 & Barton + 27 but lose in ugly fashion, 126-16.
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Final Thoughts: This would have been a big road win by the Nuggets. You hate to see them let it slip away from them like this. Two straight games of good, team basketball on the road for the most part but in the end Denver simply caved under pressure at the end as has been a disturbing trend this season. The combination of Oladipo and Turner is going to be a good one for a lot of years.
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We suck again!
