Rocky's revenge or Rocky horror? Either way, break up the Rockies!
Pre-Game Thoughts: I'll be honest; with the way Lillard is playing and the Nuggets all but doomed to late-lottery purgatory, I'd rather be watching the Rockies in the midst of a valiant comeback today, than the Nuggets this afternoon. 3pm start? Come on! The Jazz vs 'Blazers game was my final hope for Denver's season possibly extending into the playoffs for the first time in years, and Lillard pretty much put that pipe dream to rest with 26 first qtr points last night. It will however be interesting to see the young PG's for Denver play against Westbrook, as he attempts to make history tonight.
Denver Roster:
Will "The People's Champion" Barton,
Juancho "No Room For A Nickname" Hernangomez,
Mike "The Human White Flag" Miller
Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone
Oklahoma City Roster:
Russell "Rocky Horror" Westbrook
Semaj "I Love Your Christ, But I Dislike Your" Christon
Victor "This Should Be Easier Than It's Proving To Be" Oladipo
Josh "Seriously, Who Is This?" Huestis
Doug "Twice As Good As Nurkic & Harris Combined" McDermott
Taj "Garage" (hell, I dunno) Gibson
Domantas "Avatar Bet With Some Dude About Some Other Stiff" Sabonis
Steven "I Eat Hobbits For 2nd Breakfast" Adams
Enes "Originally Dennis, But Alas, No D" Kanter
Update: No Faried (no!) no Jameer (Halelujiah!)
Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™
TPM™ Game 80 OKC
Jameer Nelson @the 1: N/A
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: +14
Jamal Murray @the 1 +14
Nikola Jokic @the 5: +3
Mason Plumlee @the 5: +7
Kenneth Faried @the 5:N/A
Darrell Arthur @the 5: N/A
Roy Hibbert @the 5: 0
Total TPM™ starting Game 10 vs. Pdx
Jameer Nelson @the 1: 65 Games -245
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: 12 Games +95
Jamal Murray @the 1: 24 Games +267
Nikola Jokic @the 5: 62 Games +809
Mason Plumlee @the 5: 24 Games +138
Kenneth Faried @the 5: 29 Games -123
Darrell Arthur @the 5: 18 Games -25
Roy Hibbert @the 5: 6 Games +6
Avg. TPM™ Per Game (excludes games where given 1's/5's get zero minutes @the 1/5)
Jameer Nelson @the 1: -3.77
Emmanuel Mudiay @the 1: +7.92
Jamal Murray @the 1: +11.13
Nikola Jokic @the 5: +13.05
Mason Plumlee @the 5: +5.75
Kenneth Faried @the 5: -4.24
Darrell Arthur @the 5: -1.39
Roy Hibbert @the 5: +1.00
Analysis:
Qtr1- Undefeated starting PG Jamal Murray gets the nod once again, over the "injured" Jameer. I just noticed that Ally has a charming beauty mark on her left shoulder, noticeable in her plunging v cut, cobalt dress tonight. Denver is struggling offensively vs 3rd qtr-aggressive D. Marlowe apparently reads TPM re: butterflies. It's all Westbrook all the time, as expected for OKC. All the stat stuffing talk re: Westbrook is utter nonsense, as OKC is 32-9 when he gets a 3d, no matter his intention. Gallo is the first player for either team in double figures, at the 3 minute mark. Kanter is bullying both of Denver's centers. Plumlee nets his 2nd foul & Chandler selfishly refuses to heave a 3/4 court shot with 1.6 on the clock (the only thing I miss about Anre) as the qtr ends, and OKC leads after one 27-26.
Qtr2- Lead by Mudiay the Nuggets are picking up the D, and have a 6 point lead after 3 minutes of play. Murray enjoys the dunking. Westbrook is the first OKC player in double digits. Juancho shoots from crazy-land and it's an air-ball. OKC is out-hustling the Nuggets in transition, and they cut it to 3 at the 4 minute mark. The bench is vastly outplaying the starters for Denver tonight. Very slow night for Jokic who is not being assertive against the more physical Thunder bigs. OKC makes it's first 3 of the afternoon courtesy of Westbrook of course, with 1:30 to go. Jokic joins Gallo in double digits, then quickly picks up 2 fouls, one of them a strange double foul when he and Adams mix it up (Adams netted his 2nd in the exchange) and Big Honey must check out. Westbrook has a 2d already with 23-12-6, but Denver leads 53-52 at the half.
Halftime: Smoke break, since the Rockies game appears to be slipping away.
Qtr3- Well that was refreshing (cough cough). The disturbing trend of OKC's bigs out-muscling/out-hustling Jokic on the boards continues. Adams becomes the 2nd Thunder player in double figures. Denver holds onto the lead through decent defense and shooting, despite the poor rebounding effort tonight. Jokic is an even TPM tonight, which is very unlike him. Gallo gets his 2nd and-one against "Too Soon", in the third and he has 23 (11 in the period.) Harris is ice cold as a shooter, but continues to distribute well. Chandler is the 3rd Nugget in double figures at the 6 minute mark. Adams now has a 2d. This may be Gallo's best all around game of the season. He leads all players with 30 points in addition to 7 boards (notably, not all of them have fallen right in his lap tonight) as Denver takes an 11 point lead at the 4 minute mark. Jokic picks up his 4th foul and checks out with 3:30 to go. Soon after, the same goes for Roberson. Kanter is the 3rd OKC player in double figures. Plumlee gets his 4th, but must remain in with Jokic in foul trouble, and Michael Malone not remembering that he has a 7'3 center on the bench. HOLY SHIT HE HEARD ME! Hibbert checks in. Some sarcastic M!V!P! chants trickle in for Gallo at the line as he gets a new season high of 33 (22 in the third). Denver leads after three 91-81.
Qtr 4- Plumlee playing very aggressive on D, despite the 4 fouls. Love it! Westbook wants that 10th assist badly. Mudiay is the 4th Nugget in double figures, and Denver leads by twelve with 6:30 to play. It is hilarious how OKC players are pressing to score when Westbrook passes it to them. It seems to be a big factor in Denver's lead. Jokic is cold from distance tonight. Westbrook has his wish, and finally passes "The Big O" in all time 3d's for a season, with 42. With that out of the way the Nuggets are possibly in trouble, as Russ has been far more effective as a scorer tonight. Gallo now has a 2d with 34-10-3. Jokic picks up his 5th, a flagrant (that was not), compounds it with a T & the lead is down to 5. This game is getting chippy after Westbrook petitioned the refs to call Jokic. Adams nabs his 4th foul and Jokic hits 2. Denver is up by 7 with 1 minute to go. Chandler now has a 2d. OKC flopping all over the place and the refs reward them. Westbrook cuts it to 2 on a beautiful inbounds play (why can't we have nice things) with :27 to go. Jokic misses with :03 to go, on a play in which it seems they expected an immediate OKC foul and didn't know what to do when OKC did not (look at the clock guys!) Westbrook fittingly drills a three to end the game! He gets 50-16-10 and makes history, as the Thunder win 106-105.
Final Thoughts- Unbelievable!
Denver Nuggets Thunder vs Nuggets coverage Welcome to Loud City
