Bear's bosom buddies.

Ways out.

Still keepin' that seat warm for The Anchorman.

I don't envy any team facing the Nuggets after their embarrassing loss to the Hawks at home, or; "Stuck inside of Denver with the Memphis blues again."

Pre-Game Thoughts: The last time these two teams met, Denver won by a close-ish margin of 12 points, despite an unconscious effort by Big Honey in which he recorded a +38 TPM. Memphis appears to be in full on tank mode since the onset of injury, particularly the devastating loss of one of their top two players in Mike Conley and are currently tied for last place in the West, which normally would make them precisely the type of team that Denver would be likely to lose against but I have a feeling that the residual bad taste from the Nuggets inexcusable home loss to Atlanta on Wednesday, will propel them to victory as has been the pattern this season.

The key to beating the Conley-less Bears is of course containing Gasol and in this season at least, stopping the drive of Memphis' native-son Tyreke Evans, neither of which is an easy task. Gasol is having a very poor shooting season without the ready-made jumpers and bunnies that Conley provides but Tyreke is shooting the lights out, across the board. You also always have to be cognizant of the defensive bbiq and the offensive creativity that Gasol provides, regardless of what the numbers might indicate.

Go Nuggets!

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And now what none of you come here for; how about some basketball nerdery?!?!

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Coach: J.B. "I Don't Lose Trades With Indiana Like My Father" Bickerstaff

Denver Nuggets Roster

Coach: Michael "Mr Imagination" Malone

Update: Millsap had successful left wrist surgery and is expected back some time around the all star break. Mudiay is improbable due to dog house (see also Faried, Kenneth). Harris is out for personal reasons. As for Memphis, Conley is still out with his Achilles injury, while Parsons is out with a knee injury.

Data: Open this link in a new tab for the definition of TPM™

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TPM™ Game 42 MEM

Jamal Murray: +5

Emmanuel Mudiay: N/A

Monte Morris: N/A

Gary Harris: N/A

Will Barton: +4

Malik Beasley: +4

Torrey Craig: N/A

Wilson Chandler: +5

Juancho Hernangomez: N/A

Richard Jefferson: +4

Paul Millsap: N/A

Kenneth Faried: +0

Trey Lyles: +18

Darrell Arthur: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +4

Mason Plumlee: +2

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Total TPM™ starting Game 1 vs. Uta

Jamal Murray: 42 Games +409

Emmanuel Mudiay: 31 Games +302

Monte Morris: 1 Game +1

Gary Harris: 38 Games +571

Will Barton: 41 Games +431

Malik Beasley: 37 Games +71

Torrey Craig: 14 Games -10

Wilson Chandler: 38 Games +273

Juancho Hernangomez: 16 Games -14

Richard Jefferson: 12 Games +2

Paul Millsap: 16 Games +173

Kenneth Faried: 28 Games +45

Trey Lyles: 36 Games +296

Darrell Arthur: 5 Games -14

Tyler Lydon: 1 Games -3

Nikola Jokic: 35 Games +471

Mason Plumlee: 42 Games +134

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +9.74

Emmanuel Mudiay: +9.74

Monte Morris: +1.00

Gary Harris: +15.03

Will Barton: +10.51

Malik Beasley: +1.92

Torrey Craig: -0.71

Wilson Chandler: +7.18

Juancho Hernangomez: -0.82

Richard Jefferson: +0.17

Paul Millsap: +10.81

Kenneth Faried: +1.61

Trey Lyles: +8.22

Darrell Arthur: -2.80

Tyler Lydon: -3.00

Nikola Jokic: +13.46

Mason Plumlee: +3.19

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 40:

*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet. It's as if my (nerdy) baby (TPM™) learned to speak

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Analysis:

Qtr2- The Nuggets may have to roll the dice on Jokic and gamble that the refs will give him star treatment for once as other players receive once they get into foul trouble. He's in on queue. Denver is finally playing some semblance of D and have cut it to 7 at 10:32. Ally reports that Malone made the decision yesterday that Barton will no longer play the point. Apparently he hasn't told Barton (or himself) this yet. Beasley nabs his third foul at 8:06 but remains in. Mudiay remains in the doghouse. MEM leads by 3 at 6:45. Gasol is puttin' in work on both ends tonight. Denver has 6 assists thus far on 38 points at 3:45. Jokic picks up his third foul at 3:28 so apparently he is not yet a star, or more accurately he bitches too much. He's not CP3/Draymond yet and has to learn that. Barton is now running the point even with Murray on the floor. The lead for MEM is 6 at 2:05. Barton is the first and only Nugget in double figures so far. This is a very hard game to watch as a Nuggets fan and I was dead wrong about the sense of urgency I'd expected the Nuggets to exhibit. Only Lyles seems to be. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +12 and trail 47-43 at the half.

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Halftime: Smoke break? YEEEEEEEEEEEES!

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Qtr3- Plumlee is charged with his 4th foul at 9:18 and Lyles comes in for him. Trey is the 2nd Nugget in double digits and the lead is down to 4 at 7:15. The game is being played decidedly at Memphis' pace but I don't think they have the firepower to pull it out regardless, as Jokic ties it up with a loping bunny at 5:17. The Nuggets are in the bonus at 5:06 and Denver takes the lead on a couple of FT's by Big Honey. The lead is now 4 at 4:17, in favor of the good guys. Michael Adams is sharing broadcast responsibilities which reminds me of the very bad season for the Nuggets, in which I recall listening to games on the radio as a very young child (since channel two only broadcasted so many of them per season) as he and fellow Nugget, Orlando Woolridge were both vying for the NBA scoring title. Beasley is showing excellent technique and tenacity fighting through screens. Jokic is the third Nugget in double Figures. Beasley picks up his 4th foul. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +14 and now lead, 67-60 after three.

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Qtr4- A very sloppy start to the 4th on both ends for the Nuggets but they lead by three still at 9:57. Memphis is doing Denver a favor by taking some terrible shots. Denver now has their biggest lead of 9 at 8:17. Hastings needs to decide what exactly "in the pressure cooker" means. The lead is now 13 at 6:27 and the Grizzlies seem to be running out of gas. The Nuggets have outscored the Grizz 36-19 in the 2nd half. Memphis, to their credit is maximizing every amount of fuel in their tank and have cut it to 9 with 4:19 to play. Sloppy, sloppy play by both teams in the 4th. Green nabs his 5th foul at 4:11. Murray is the 4th Nugget in double digits, making most of his hay from the charity stripe. Plumlee now has his 5th foul at 2:08 with the Nuggets ahead semi-comfortably, 84-76. What do you know? I just witnessed perhaps the first, solid, out-of-time out play on the year that yielded a Barton layup on a backdoor pass by Plumlee. If the Nuggets win it seems to have come down to FT shooting and having just enough gas in the tank after MEM blew their wad. Denver is paced in TPM by Lyles +18 and win it (somehow) 87-78.

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Final Thoughts: Well... They won. Tomorrow night's TPM will be data only and by tomorrow night I mean Sunday afternoon, as I'll be celebrating my 41st birthday in the mountains with friends. After that we'll return to our normally scheduled Data and Analysis. I apologize for the lack of analysis in January. It's been a very busy month for me. Let's please not talk about what a great defensive game Denver played tonight. It was hardly that, just poor offensive execution by both teams. The numbers DO frequently lie.

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The Nuggets Win!

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