Old Rockets vs New Rockets in battle of high-octane offenses: Big Honey vs The Beard.
Pre-Game Thoughts: How healthy are the Nuggets? Home or not, road weary and tired as they may be, it will be very difficult to beat this Houston team who has an MVP candidate, Gunners for days, and IMHO the most under-rated coach in my 30 something years of following the NBA. If Gallo, Darth and Ill-Wil play, and are legitimately healthy, that would make the first time all season that the whole team was (or at least it sure seems that way), and if they are anything less than that, I predict an end to the Nugget's modest win streak, followed by a win in Houston, that would perfectly illustrate the tenor of this season's Nuggets. Also, if you are going to allow Harden to go to the line for a foul he creates, at least make him know he was fouled. Not calling for anything cheap, I'm calling for clean, hard fouls, which are the only antidote for his "loop-hole" strategy. Also not mad at Harden for being an intelligent player, and exploiting the game as a means to win. The only statistic that counts is the final score. Winning is everything in for-profit competition. Numbers are a fun anecdote to the win, and not the other way around. If you don't think so, then you shouldn't be a professional athlete. Now please enjoy these TPM numbers ;)
Update: With all three of the aforementioned out tonight, it will require everyone to play at or above their season averages, and a little more streaky-goodness from The People's Champion could make a victory plausable.
1st Half- Nuggets wearing their undefeated white jerseys tonight. Jokic looking dapper with his freshly cut "Eric Montross" 'do. Lets hope we don't have a Ralph Sampson situation on our hands. Harden called for the first offensive foul of his career, on one that honestly wasn't. 4 minutes in, and Houston seems to have one play. Harden drive, Jokic gets caught in no mans land, pass it in to Capella to miss a layup. Jokic is struggling mightily on both ends. Jameer is uncharacteristically +6 TPM at the 6 minute mark. Juancho is having one of his better defensive days, sticking to Ariza like glue. Good to see that Barton is still sizzling the pits. My 2nd favorite Nugget of all time, Nene checks in. Jokic gets two terrible offensive fouls in a row and must check out at the 4 minute mark. Houston seems to be getting every whistle. Both teams have bona fide playoff talent on the bench (when healthy). Jamal is playing well defensively, but has yet to play pg, and for once, it is because Jameer is playing very well on o, and staying completely out of the play on d. Jameer checks out at the 1:30 mark. About the 5th phantom call goes against Denver, this time on Plumlee, who whiffs on Harden on the break. Come on refs! Jameer is +10 TPM and no other pg or c is above 0, as the 1st comes to a close, 26-26. Jameer back in already? Don't know about that one Malone. It puts everyone else at risk of foul trouble defending the dynamic Houston guards, while we hide Jameer on d. Nene nabs his 2nd foul for Houston. Murray quickly gets a 2nd foul of his own. Both teams cold in first 3 minutes of 2nd. Bend your knees on ft's Plumlee! Murray with his 3rd foul at the 8:45 mark. Jameer is most definitely going to wear down and slip up tonight. I HOPE I'm wrong, but with Mudiay inexplicably in the doghouse, I see no other result as possible. Jokic checks in at this time, 2 fouls and all. Hibbert anyone? Jameer is +18 TPM (likely his high mark for any game this season.) Problem is, he's played all but 1.5 minutes of the game, and his backup has 3 fouls as a direct result of not getting enough time defending Houston's less threatening players, that we are currently hiding Jameer on. Jokic gets his 3rd foul at the 5:45 mark, and must again take a seat. Hibbert anyone? An exhausted Jameer decides he's done penetrating for the night, and bricks one from about 50 feet with 8 seconds on the shot clock. That's squarely on you Malone. What would happen if Mudiay did that I wonder? Denver simply is NOT going to get a call today. Someone is bound to get T-ed up at some point. Faried has 2 phenomenal tip-ins tonight. Nene hammers a ferocious dunk down on Plumlee. Grey Nene has still got it. Juancho gets Denvers 3rd foul of a Houston 3 attempt at the 2 minute mark. Harden and Juancho both have 13 points, and are the only players in double figures with 1 minute to play. Barton has his 2nd foul which makes 3 key Nuggets in foul trouble, while only Nene & Anderson have 2 for Houston. Jameer is +18 at the half, as he was at the 9 minute mark, illustrating my point that he is playing too much (over 22 of 24 minutes thus far). Nuggets up 56-51 at the half.
2nd half- I predict that the theme of the comment section, in the official game recap will be Malone's shitty defensive scheme, to make up for Jokic's shoddy defense tonight. Truth is, it is both. We had better hope Houston doesn't start hitting 3's, as they are 1-11 thus far, in a very close game. They immediately brick 3 in a row from distance, so make that 1-14. Anderson flops, and Jokic has his 4th. These refs are a fucking basket of deplorables! Jokic takes a seat, and Faried checks in. Predictably, the exhausted Jameer gets his first 2 turnovers of the game, within the first 2 minutes of the 3rd. Harden now has a 2d. Another phantom call, this one on Faried. Barton in for Plumlee at the 6 minute mark in a tie game, moving Faried to the 5. Houston still has no one with more than 2 fouls at the 6 minute mark. Nene heard me, and gets his 3rd on a make up call. Jameer with a 3rd TO in this qtr, that leads to Houston's 2nd three of the game. Denver is in the bonus at 5 minute mark, after a series of fouls by Houston players, that are not in any risk of fouling out. Small ball is as usual, not working, as Houston takes a 6 point lead at the 4:30 mark. Hibbert anyone? I laugh as I type this, but Jameer could get a 3d tonight. Harden scoring at will against this small lineup for the Nuggets. Nene picks up his 4th with 3 to play, & Houston up 70-68. Plumlee checks in for Faried at this time. Jameer makes a circus layup, and follows it up with a patented Jameroball brick from down town. Harden elbows Barton in the face, and Barton of course is called for the foul. Harden 13 - Denver 15, thus far in the 3rd. Harden hits the ground hard after picking up his 7th foul (3rd officially.) Denver can not make a ft. Jameer FINALLY checks out with less than 1 to play! Nene picks up his 5th; (hallelujah!) Denver has their work cut out for them, down 80-74 after 3. Miraculously, Jameer is not in to start the 4th, having already played 34 minutes. Jokic is setting a screen and somehow, the other guy is called for a foul. Careless TO by Murray in a post pass to Faried. Jokic picks up his 5th foul as Capella attempts to dunk on him. Houston does NOT respect Jokic as a defender, and on this night, they are correct not to. Jokic stays in the game. I'll not advocate for Hibbert with the Nuggets down 8. Another bad TO by Murray, kills a mini-run by Denver, and Jokic is once again scored upon. Plumlee enters for Jokic. This game is screaming for an x-factor bench insertion. A good in-game coach would go with Mudiay as a roll of the dice. Capella picks up his 4th foul at the 7 minute mark, with Houston up by 4. Barton is not, as I mistakenly stated earlier, sizzling the pits tonight. I just discovered that Houston has a 2nd designed play in their repertoire; attempt to draw a foul. Jokic in at the 6 minute mark for Plumlee, and immediately scores. Nuggets within 2 after two straight Murray steals, but he somehow misses both ft's on the 2nd. Jameer checks in, cause the whole Murray at the pg thing that went on a 7-2 run, clearly didn't work. Murray remains in at the 2. Juancho fouls Harden AGAIN on a 3! That's Houston's designed play #2 for those of you following at home. Harden makes 2-3, extending the lead to 4, at the 5 minute mark. Jameer's turn to miss a ft, and the Nuggets are now 16-25 at the line (8 misses in this half). The Beard & Big Honey exchange 3's and it's a 3 point game, until Nene dunks all the fuck over Jokic. Jameer drills a 3 on a fine assist from Murray, to cut it to 2, with 3 to play. Ariza and Beverly foul Jokic and Murray on the same play, and neither is called, resulting in a TO. Beverly gets his 5th foul with 2 to play. Denver cuts it to 5 with 1-2 ft's by Barton. Jokic cuts it to 3 with a nice put-back finger-roll. Can the Nuggets stop Harden somehow? Plumlee in for Jokic to play d. Beverly fouls out on Houston play #2, this time Performed by Barton, who can tie it up with 3 ft's! He makes 2-3 :( . Less than 1 minute to play, Houston is up 1 as the Nuggets send Nene to the line. He bricks the 1st badly. Jokic checks in to play offense. He makes the 2nd and the Nuggets have a chance, down 2 with :40 to play. I trust Jokic to take this one since he can get his shot off over anyone, and has perhaps the best killer instinct on the team, and definitely has something to prove tonight. Instead Malone draws up a brick 3 for Barton. Murray forces Harden to miss a tough 2, they choose to fast break with under 15 seconds, and Barton misses a layup that would have tied, and are forced to foul Harden who sinks 2 and ends the game. Jokic played terribly, and got no help from the refs, and we were missing two starters, but this loss is squarely on Malone. Harden has an impressive 40 point 3d. Houston wins 109-105
Final Thoughts- END THE JANIGHTMERE! Just try to find another thread that utilizes antidote, and anecdote within the flow of description, without stretching or even attempting cleverness. Calling attention to it of course makes it vastly more clever. You're welcome TPM devote(s).
