Heeeeee's baaaaaaaack!

And this time we get that Marquee match-up that we missed out on last time.

Keepin' the seat warm for Barton, who seems to be in a best case time-frame in terms of returning from an injury that required surgery. He should be back in the lineup by around December 15th.

Nuggets vs New Orleans: Expect low-brow pun-ishment.

When last these two teams squared off in game 6 of this season, the Nuggets (lap) enjoyed double figure TPM contributions from five players led by Gary Harris +23. Two players were in the red for that encounter, led by Mason Plumlee -2, en route to a surprisingly competitive 116-111 victory in the Mile High City, vs the then Brow-less Pelicans. In said encounter, Gary Harris led the charge with a line of 23-6-6-2-1 on 50% shooting, Beasley and Lyles were big for the Nuggets off the bench, for whatever reason I believed I could speak french and Big Honey fell one board shy of a 3D. New Orleans received sizable contributions from Mirotic, Holiday, Moore & Randle in coming up just short, after a spirited fourth quarter effort.

As for this game, the only surprise will be if it's not competitive with a healthy Anthony Davis and a suddenly unshackled Denver offense set to square off. A.D. is quite possibly the most talented player when age is taken into consideration, in the entire NBA. At minimum, few GM's would not mention him as the player they'd choose to start a franchise with. Surrounding their Superstar, the pelicans can expect near-All-Star level offensive output from Mirotic, near-All-Star level all-around play from Holiday, well above average offensive contribution from Randle who (torches/tortures, take your pick; it's a little like on-track, untracked) the Nuggets as well as Moore who is having a career year.

This season more than in any previous year it has become apparent just how much better Davis does indeed make the players around him. It'd be hard not to see a bump not only in the win loss column but statistically when your best player puts up absurd averages like 26.5 PPG, 13.1 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.42 SPG, 2.92 BPG, with an obscenely low 2.3 turnovers per game, while shooting 47.9, 37.9 & 76% from the floor, the arc and the charity stripe respectively. Scary is the notion that he was struggling to shoot after an extended absence with an elbow ailment and only regained his stroke last night in New York. Fortunately for the good guys, The Pelicans flew in from said meeting overnight and as Hastings always says, "the hardest game of a road trip is the first home game upon returning."

This is the first repeat performance of the young season for Denver so there isn't much more to say.

I would be remiss however, had I not mentioned that while not an entirely unattractive young man, Mirotic seems to be incapable of taking a flattering in-game photo, reminiscent of a young singer-songwriter named Patrick Rasmussen who has nothing but guitar face photos, a few t-shirts and these things called compact disks (thankfully no VD for the most part) to show for his former life as a musician.

I'm excited to be able to take this one in. Let's do this!

Prediction: Denver (lap) 117 - New Orleans 111.

Go Nuggets!

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If you are viewing the pre-game version of the TPM piece; and you enjoy Gonzo-basketball reporting, I invite you to please join me after the game where the same link will lead you to the post game version. In it, all of the disjointed/unsightly blanks below will be filled, complete with data/analysis and more snark than "Snarknado VI: Snakenado", which I'm told is about a pessimistic, albino, black mamba who emerges from micro-bursts to torment the people of Los Angeles with shady tweets.

There be monsters; shameless, personal plug alert! (by permission of Denver Stiffs): If you are in the market for clothing, featuring the four major Denver sports franchises as well s CU, please open this link in a new tab to see if there is anything you are interested in. You don't have to order from the link of course if you are in the Denver Metro area, as I'm more than happy to meet up with you (please refrain from bringing rotten tomatoes), drastically lowering the cost, as Poshmark takes a healthy cut as well as shipping & handling. Thanks in advance!

Unique, hard to find, one of a kind and custom gear of your favorite team

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

New Orleans Pelicans Roster

Coach: Alvin "Not As Pretty As Barbara Palvin" Gentry

Denver Nuggets Roster

Update: MPJ and I.T. are sleeping on Ice, awaiting intel as to when their services will be required. Rookie Jared Vanderbilt will have to wait to make his rookie debut until long after R.O.Y. candidate Thomas Welsh, as he recovers from an actual injury. Torrey Craig is doubtful with a sore hammy. Finally, Barton had successful surgery on his abductor and hip. He will be evaluated for return in mid-December. As for New Orleans, The Brow returns which is really all that matters but additionally I must report that Payton is in fact out with a broken pinkie.

Re-up: Prince is ALSO out with an Achilles injury. The tank, inadvertent or otherwise has a full head of steam.

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

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TPM™ Game 16 NO

Jamal Murray: +12

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Monte Morris: +13

Gary Harris: +25

Malik Beasley: +2

Torrey Craig: N/A

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: N/A

Will Barton: N/A

Juancho Hernangomez: +18

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Jared Vanderbilt: N/A

Paul Millsap: +7

Trey Lyles: +1

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Nikola Jokic: +30

Mason Plumlee: +3

Thomas Welsh: N/A

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Total TPM™

Jamal Murray: 16 games +223

Isaiah Thomas: 0 games +0

Monte Morris: 16 games +209

Gary Harris: 16 games +243

Malik Beasley: 16 games +53

Torrey Craig: 13 games -5

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 4 games +0

Will Barton: 2 games +33

Juancho Hernangomez: 15 games +44

Michael Porter Jr.: 0 games +0

Jared Vanderbilt: 0 games +0

Paul Millsap: 16 games +132

Trey Lyles: 16 games +134

Tyler Lydon: 5 games +4

Nikola Jokic: 16 games +314

Mason Plumlee: 16 games +85

Thomas Welsh: 3 games -1

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +13.94

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Monte Morris: +13.06

Gary Harris: +15.19

Malik Beasley: +3.31

Torrey Craig: -0.30

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: +0.00

Will Barton: +16.50

Juancho Hernangomez: +2.93

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Jared Vanderbilt: N/A

Paul Millsap: +825

Trey Lyles: 8.38

Tyler Lydon: +0.80

Nikola Jokic: +19.63

Mason Plumlee: +5.31

Thomas Welsh: -0.33

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 11:

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

Analysis:

Qtr1- The Nuggets trot out their second iteration of the post-Craig (RIP), injury-replacement starting five, consisting of Morris, Harris, Juancho, Millsap & Jokic. The Pels counter with Holiday, Moore, Johnson, Mirotic & Davis. I finally figured out who Mirotic looks like. Gargantuan Jason Mraz! Big Honey guards the Brow early which is an interesting choice. Seems that the Nuggets are choosing to allow him his and attempt to contain Holiday and the gang. The score is Jokic 5 - AD 5 everyone else 0 at 10:15. Denver leads 11-7 and have made five straight buckets at 9:01, on the strength of an 8-2 run. Jokic and Davis both have an early foul which is not surprising given their both being the decided fulcrum of their respective teams tonight. It's even-Steven at 15 with 7:06 to go and we've got a good one on our hands, as expected. The Brow earns his second foul at this point which is obviously huge. Jokic is already at double figures in scoring with 6:38 to go, as the two teams get their first break of the night. This is as good as Nikola has looked at the outset of a game in quite some time.

"Like a Bull in a bulldozer contest" Marlowe proudly proclaims as if he'd been practicing this mixed metaphor for some time just to see who recognized his understated humor. I got you my guy! Murray has two mighty fine look-away assists already, perhaps his first two of the year. Monte is first off the pine at 5:30 with a one point lead. Big Honey is injured after slipping on some manner of liquid and it appears to be a Barton-esque groin/abductor issue, though seemingly less severe. Please no big injury for Big Honey in the Big Easy, basketball Gods! They answer my plea (it's really just one guy. He's from North Carolina. Used to play for the Bulls. He's very busy) and he impossibly remains in! He promptly earns an "only Jokic" foul and it appears it was because he wanted to sit. Just ask out young man! Plumlee and Lyles are inserted at 2:30 with a three point lead. The Pels bench is besting that of their counterparts and they lead by four with 1:15 to go. Beasley is the next in for Denver with under a minute to go. Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic +18, as they trail 35-37 after one.

Qtr2- Randle cares for utilizing his right hand roughly the same amount as does George Bush care about black people. Scott likes Murray... finish the story! Holiday may have the best Euro-step in the NBA. Murray gets his third foul and he's replaced by Harris. New Orleans leads it by eight on the strength of an 8-0 run. Denver ties it up on the strength of a 12-4 run of their own. The reserves for Denver are finally gaining the appearance of having their sea-legs. The run is now 16-4 as Denver now leads by four at 7:11. Plumlee earns his third foul with 6:44 to play. Denver Nuggets Twitter is quiet as everyone seems to be as engaged in this one as I am. Sue Bird's shot has a bit of a forward leap to it, not unlike last games opponent, Trae Young. It's even at 53 with 5:39 to go, after a dunk by The Brow. Lyles bails out Mirotic with a second to go in the shot clock and he gets three freebies.

In a game of runs, the Pels now lead by one on the strength of a 7-0 run. Harris is the second Nugget to reach double digits in scoring. Morris gets a turnover for traveling followed by a T for Malone, both highly uncharacteristic of them. Who do I score that negative TPM point to? One of the assistant coaches or bench players ALSO gets T-ed up! Turns out it's Wes Unseld Jr. Who do I score THAT negative TPM point to? Morris is the third Denver player to score in double figures. After many technicalities, The Pels now lead by eight at 1:45. Jokic has been passive and essentially a non-factor since earning his second foul. It baffles me that he hasn't assessed the causation of his silly fouls yet. Juancho makes four in double digits. Free throws / failure to secure defensive rebounds are the difference and then some. The Joker is on 3D pace with a line of 18-5-5 but he MUST avoid silly fouls. Denver is paced in TPM by Morris +10, Juancho +11, Harris +15 & Jokic +18 as they trail 67-70, at the half.

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Qtr3- The Nuggets have got to figure out how to play defense/rebound without fouling as they have a whopping six key rotational players with multiple fouls, entering the second half of play. Meanwhile the free throw discrepancy is 24-5 in favor of the Pelicans. These numbers appear to be related. Two quick fouls on Wesley Johnson. That's more like it! Harris is 4-4 from beyond the arc in the game as he ties it up with a three, after an excellent offensive rebound by Juancho. Holiday nabs his fourth foul at 8:38 and the next New Orleans foul will place Denver in the bonus. Gary finally misses and the Pels lead by two with 8:00 to go. This has likely been Juancho's finest all-around game of the season. Jokic has missed his past five attempts from the floor. Marlowe and Hastings opine that it was the injury scare that frazzled him but I disagree. It all started with his second foul.

The lead is six for the Pelicans at 5:34. The Joker flops big time but gets away with it vs Randle at 4:58. The lead for the Pels is nine at 3:04 and Jokic looks flat out pooped. New Orleans is a sizzling 9-18 from the arc here in the third period. To their credit, the Pelicans avoided going over the foul limit all the way from the early moments of the third until the 1:38 point, before finally going over. Murray has been in a word, dreadful ever since his confident early moments of the game. The bench squad for Denver is once again being outplayed and the Pelicans lead by 11 as the period draws to a close. Denver is paced in TPM by Morris/Juancho +10, Harris +19, Jokic +22 as they have their work cut out for them, trailing 88-98 after three.

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Qtr4- As was the case in the first half, the Nuggets bench unit is slowly but surely rounding into shape and they cut it to seven at 10:43 after a blow by dunk by Beasley, which prompts an early timeout by Alvin Gentry. He's still their coach right? The Pelicans tertiary characters get a bevvy of blocks from behind by virtue of A.D. looming underneath. They lead by 11 with 8:38 remaining and it may be time to insert the starters before it's too late, as Davis simply never sits. Harris returns for the good guys at 8:14. Denver has 8 made free throws, as missed attempts are starting to become an issue as well, to New Orleans 25 made attempts. this discrepancy is starting to more closely illustrate the point spread as its a 13 point lead for the Pelicans with exactly eight minutes to play. Mirotic/Davis/Randle have already topped 20 points each; Davis with 30 at this point while only Jokic has 20+ for the Nuggets. The starters for Denver plus Lyles minus Millsap are now in for a last ditch effort.

Unfortunately all five players are reluctant to shoot with all the rejection going on. Lyles has had a forgettable second half. Morris, rather than 'Sap is in for him and I don't hate it. Nikola has a 2D with 23-10-5. Juancho is doing surprisingly well in his current defensive assignment vs Davis. New Orleans is in the bonus the rest of the way at 4:40 which basically means this goose is cooked. There's probably a thanksgiving joke there somewhere to be had but I, like Big Honey, am pooped. Marlowe/Hastings continue to assert that Nikola's "injury" has caused his regression and I continue to respectfully disagree. Murray makes five in double figures for Denver. The Nuggets are still not in the bonus, trailing by 19 with 3:33 to go. Juancho also earns a 2D, the first of hopefully many as a starter, with a line of 20-11-2. Denver is paced in TPM by Jamal Murray +12, Morris +13, Juancho +18, Harris +25 & Jokic +30, as they lose 115-125 in the Crescent City.

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Final Thoughts: Anyone checked in on DomP to resupply him with rations? Might want to also remove the empty Kleenex boxes from his feet, trim his toe-nails and for fucks sake, discard those dozen milk jugs, each overflowing with urine! Offense wasn't an issue as the Nuggets finally DID manage to match New Orleans with three players scoring over 20. Problem is, Harris/Juancho/Jokic combined for 69 points, while Randle/Mirotic/Davis combined for 81.

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We Suck Again!

Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets