"Lets sit this one out. Don't tell Ben."

Anre had no answer defensively.

Fuck me! The band is STILL not together as Murray sits for Torrey FUCKING Craig, which is further proof of Malone's irrational love affair. Monte Morris... he's pretty good.

Nuggets vs 'Sixers: The pseudo-healthy Nuggets face some of the 'Sixers.

Or:

A battle of the top two centers in the league. The Joker vs the field.

When last these two teams squared off in game 74 of last season the Nuggets (lap) enjoyed double figure TPM contributions from three players led by current 'Sixer Wilson Chandler & current People's Champion Will Barton: +21. Two players led by Torrey Craig: -5 were in the red for that match-up as the Nuggets lost in ugly fashion, 123-104.

As for this game, No Embiid, no Butler, No excuses. Put all five men on JJ Reddick and dare Simmons to shoot. Hopefully Landry Shamet likes the finer things in life such as the best canibus the world has to offer, Micro-brews at altitude and Chubbies green. The lift provided by having the Nuggets roster in tact (save the yet-to-appear-in-Denver-uniforms IT & MPJ) for the first game in the last 46, should be more than enough for the good guys to earn the W tonight.

Of course every time I'm naively thinking along these lines, so too are the second youngest team in the league, the Denver Nuggets who never fail to shit the bed on the "easy victory" nights. These are all NBA players, thus there is no such thing as an easy victory, especially when Denver routinely play's five on eight, having yet to earn enough ESPN/TNT exposure to sway the whistle of the modern NBA officials who more so than in any other major professional sport, seemingly operate entirely on emotion, momentum and perceived star-power as opposed to, you know... that which actually occurs before thier very eyes.

Denver has still lost more man-games to injury by an exceedingly large margin, than any team in the league, including those of three fifths of their starting lineup for the better part of the season, yet if you listened to the national media, you'd think that the Houston Rockets were the only team to have suffered injuries this season as the four-letter network falls over themselves in justifying Harden's exceptionally selfish brand of stop & go chuckery. Interestingly, his Houston squad and Philly are neck & neck with regard to man-games-lost, both a DISTANT third behind the equidistant second place and hapless tank-squad known as the Cavs.

The problem of course is that games aren't played on paper and with the recent re-insertion of Millsap, Harris, Barton and now Jared Vanderbilt and the new roles this causes for Juancho, Beasley, Morris, Lyles etc, it's like going through training camp mid-season, so there will be bumps in the road and blips in the radar as roles are re-defined.

Now here are some numbers you can use:

Philly gives up 111.9 PPG by their opponents on average, to Denver's 106.1

The 'Sixers average 115.7 PPG offensively to the Nuggets 111.7

This results in a net rating for Philly of +3.8 and +5.5 for Denver

Philly is 11-12 on the road while Denver is a nearly unbeatable 21-4 at home

In terms of conference record, the 'Sixers are 20-13 to the Nuggets 19-10 mark which is important only in as much as understanding the strength of schedule involved as the Western Conference is as much as ever, the stiffer competition.

Denver of course is second in the Western Conference standings, 1.5 games behind the Warriors while Philly currently resides in 4th place in the Leastern Conference, 4 games out.

When it comes to the other meaningful statistical box-score production the comparison is as follows:

(team with advantage in bold)

PHI: RPG 47.6 APG 27.5 SPG 7.45 BPG 5.69 FG% .474 FT% .767 3% .362

DEN: RPG 47.0 APG 27.3 SPG 7.87 BPG 4.53 FG% .469 FT% .753 3% .358

The numbers on whole are remarkably even but as anyone who reads my piece knows, I don't believe any statistic or even a complex, predictive conglomeration of statistics are nearly as accurate in indicating actual results as are the unquantifiable variables of "Mo & flow™" momentum and the ability to find the zone. To that end, Denver has won 15 of their last 20, six of their last 10 while Philly has been victorious in 13 of their last 20 games & seven of their last 10.

For this young Nuggets group, individual consistency is simply not a thing so it's more difficult to predict how a player will contribute based upon trends; particularly so as the starters begin filtering back from injury and roles are altered/redefined in the coming games. Jokic has been consistently good but in different ways seemingly every night.

With that said, Big Honey is a legit MVP candidate and an emerging superstar, while Murray is coming into his own as Robin to The Joker's Batman (I'm not certain how that works either) while Millsap/Harris provide secondary options when things get problematic on offense; simultaneously carrying the bulk of the defensive burden and Barton is the much needed secondary ball handler/play-maker for when things go awry; a natural scorer/creator and the Nuggets boast one of the deepest benches in the league, even without I.T. and MPJ.

There are of course many other variables at play including match-ups; styles make fights. For example, with Embiid taking one of his frequent back maintenance hiatus', who exactly does Philly roster who has anything for Big Honey? With only Simmons play-making and Redick's spot up shooting to contend with, how does Philly get anything going vs perhaps the deepest roster in the league? No matter who a team has on it's roster, a play-maker who can't shoot and a shooter who can't create are pretty easy to contain through a battle of attrition, by sending waves of "healthy" and highly capable bodies at them each, two at a time. Plug Embiid and Butler in with this duo and of course we have an entirely different conundrum.

Prediction: Denver 115 (lap ) - Philly 107

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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 as 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

Also, my DIY music production and videos can be heard/seen here if you don't value your eardrums.

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

(After these messages... Er Nicknames)

Philadelphia 76ers Roster

NO	Name	POS	Age	HT	WT	College	Salary
43	Jonah "Anquan" Bolden	PF	23	6' 10"	220 lbs	UCLA	$1,690,000
00	Corey ""Sea-Brew" Brewer	SG	32	6' 9"	186 lbs	Florida	C-Money
23	Jimmy "The Winter of our Discontent" Butler	SG	29	6' 8"	232 lbs	Marquette	$20,445,779
22	Wilson "Ill-Wil" Chandler	SF	31	6' 9"	225 lbs	DePaul	$12,800,562
21	Joel "Redshirt" Embiid	C	24	7' 0"	250 lbs	Kansas	$25,467,250
20	Markelle "Reddest Of All Shirts; Damned Near Crimson" Fultz	PG	20	6' 4"	200 lbs	Washington	$8,339,880
7	Haywood "Jablowme" Highsmith	F	22	6' 7"	220 lbs	Wheeling Jesuit	G-Money
5	Amir "The Feared Deer" Johnson	C	31	6' 9"	240 lbs	Aririca	$1,512,601
30	Furkan "A" Korkmaz	SG	21	6' 7"	190 lbs	Parts Unknown (RIP Tony Bourdain)	$1,740,000
12	T.J. "Mitch" McConnell	PG	26	6' 2"	190 lbs	Arizona	$1,600,520
18	Shake "Malted Milk" Milton	SG	22	6' 6"	207 lbs	SMU	G-Money
31	Mike "Moose" Muscala	PF	27	6' 11"	240 lbs	Bucknell	$5,000,000
0	Justin "For A great Low Rate You Can Get Online" Patton	C	21	7' 0"	241 lbs	Creighton	$2,667,600
17	JJ Redick "Shirt"	SG	34	6' 4"	200 lbs	Duke	$12,250,000
1	Landry "Chuck" Shamet	PG	21	6' 5"	188 lbs	Wichita State	$1,703,649
25	Ben "Also Redshirt" Simmons	PG	22	6' 10"	230 lbs	LSU	$6,434,520
8	Zhaire "Sp? #10" Smith	SG	19	6' 4"	199 lbs	Texas Tech	$2,526,840

Denver Nuggets Roster

NO	Name	POS	Age	HT	WT	College	Salary
5	Will "The People's Champion" Barton	SG	27	6' 6"	190 lbs	Memphis	$11,830,358
25	"Mutant" Malik Beasley	SG	22	6' 5"	195 lbs	Florida State	$1,773,840
3	Torrey "FUCKING" Craig	SF	27	6' 7"	215 lbs	USC Upstate	$2,000,000
2	Brandon "Hopefully Contributes To Many The" Goodwin	PG	23	6' 2"	180 lbs	Florida Gulf Coast	$630,032
14	"Just" Gary Harris	SG	24	6' 4"	210 lbs	Michigan State	$16,517,857
41	Juancho "The Mouthful" Hernangomez	PF	23	6' 9"	230 lbs	Espana	$2,166,360
15	Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic (AKA The Joker)	C	23	7' 0"	250 lbs	Gotham	$24,605,181
20	Tyler "Not just Anunobody" Lydon	PF	22	6' 10"	225 lbs	Syracuse	$1,874,640
7	Trey "The Swiss Army Spork" Lyles	PF	23	6' 10"	234 lbs	Kentucky	$3,364,249
4	Paul "The Anchorman" Millsap	PF	33	6' 8"	246 lbs	Louisiana Tech	$29,230,769
11	Monte "Ratio" Morris	PG	23	6' 3"	175 lbs	Iowa State	$1,349,383
27	Jamal "The Blue Arrow" Murray	PG	21	6' 4"	207 lbs	Kentucky	$3,499,800
24	Mason "Plumdog Millionaire" Plumlee	PF	28	6' 11"	235 lbs	Duke	$12,917,808
1	Michael "The Sleeper Cell" Porter Jr.	PF	20	6' 10"	210 lbs	Missouri	$2,894,160
0	Isaiah "Ice" Thomas	PG	29	5' 9"	185 lbs	Washington	$1,512,601
8	Jarred "The Amalgamated Version Of A Dude I Once Bought Weed From On Haight Ashbury" Vanderbilt	PF	19	6' 9"	214 lbs	Kentucky	$838,464
45	Thomas "Irvine" Welsh	C	22	7' 0"	255 lbs	UCLA	G-Money

Update: MPJ and I.T. are sleeping on Ice, awaiting intel as to when their services will be required. WOW! That was short! As for PHI

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Data:

TPM™ Game 48 PHI

Jamal Murray: N/A

Isaiah Thomas: Injured

Monte Morris: +9

Brandon Goodwin: +2

Gary Harris: -1

Malik Beasley: +5

Torrey Craig: -2

Will Barton: +11

Juancho Hernangomez: +1

Michael Porter Jr.: Injured

Jared Vanderbilt: G-League

Paul Millsap: -3

Trey Lyles: +6

Tyler Lydon: -2

Nikola Jokic: +46

Mason Plumlee: +16

Thomas Welsh: N/A

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Total TPM™

Jamal Murray: 47 games +803

Isaiah Thomas: 0 games +0

Monte Morris: 48 games +555

Brandon Goodwin: 13 games +21

Nick Young: 3 games -2

Gary Harris: 30 games +433

Malik Beasley: 48 games +312

Torrey Craig: 44 games +7

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 6 games +5

Will Barton: 9 games +97

Juancho Hernangomez: 46 games +6

Michael Porter Jr.: 0 games +0

Jared Vanderbilt:1 games +3

Paul Millsap: 40 games +348

Trey Lyles: 46 games +273

Tyler Lydon: 19 games -1

Nikola Jokic: 47 games +1080

Mason Plumlee: 48 games +393

Thomas Welsh: 9 games +18

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Jamal Murray: +17.09

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Monte Morris: +11.56

Brandon Goodwin: +1.62

Nick Young: -0.67

Gary Harris: +14.43

Malik Beasley: +6.50

Torrey Craig: +0.16

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: +0.83

Will Barton: +10.78

Juancho Hernangomez: +0.13

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Jared Vanderbilt: 3.00

Paul Millsap: +8.70

Trey Lyles: 5.93

Tyler Lydon: -0.05

Nikola Jokic: +22.498

Mason Plumlee: +8.19

Thomas Welsh: +2.00

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 45:

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

Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their original starting five, consisting of Murray, Harris, Barton, Millsap & Jokic, for the first time since game 2! The Sixers counter with

Denver is paced in TPM by as they after one.

Qtr2- The

Denver is led in TPM by as they at the half.

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Qtr3- The

Denver is paced in TPM by as they lead after three.

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Qtr4- The

Denver is paced in TPM by Barton +11, Plumlee +16 & Jokic +46 as they win 126-111.

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Final Thoughts: The early season D, as I stated at the time, is fools gold and you know what that's fine. This team is built to outscore the opponent as are all of the top teams in the league today. Play to your strengths Coach.

The Nuggets Win!

For context pertaining to the statistical aspects of this piece, please open this link: TPM™

A brief statement with regard to this piece on whole:

As a means to avoid repeating myself I will include this descriptive diatribe in all TPM posts going forward.

Sure I like statistics; ever since I was a child collecting sports cards and later a pre-teen who ran pre-internet fantasy sports leagues on ink/paper/spreadsheet for the four major US pro-leagues, I've been fascinated by box-score stats but I'm by no means an expert.

I created TPM (which has been around longer than RPM incidentally and unlike them, I fully disclose my non-proprietary system and I contextualize the action rather than being a boring, mysterious, predictive metric) because it does add immediate and accessible context to what we see and what the numbers indicate, which I like.

While the data is meticulously tracked and demonstrably sound, I'm a creative type, not an engineer. Algorithm is the bane of my existence in fact. I'd far rather approach life with the intrigue of expected surprise than attempt to get to the bottom of why things are the way they are. There are many engineers in my family so I totally understand that joy can be derived from finding solutions to problems, I just can't relate. It's not fun for me. THIS is for the most part, not fun for me.

Now I'm a 41 year old man who was born the year after the team I love joined the NBA. I happen to have a lifetime of experience with this sport in several different capacities, including playing (highly underrated within the writing community) so I understand basketball theory in a way most (by no means all) pundits do not.

I was in this case interested in a data-driven approach, which if I'm honest has sapped nearly all fun out of taking in games for me. I get very few days/nights off during the season. One piece requires several hours of research and data entry and all tracking/analysis is done in real time and published mere moments after each game's completion, 82 times (more this season) per year.

As such, the analysis portion is about 90% (I've run the numbers) creative writing with sarcasm generally indicated through italics, non-sequitur humor and hyperbole, in an attempt to steal back some of the joy this endeavor has snatched away.

Hopefully there is a little something here for everyone but if you came just for data or are averse to colorful language, this is not the place for you. I have no way of knowing how many people even read this so I'll not be affected even remotely if you choose not to indulge. For those of you who do, I greatly thank you for the support.

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