Very funny Rasmussen.

The extent of my photoshop skills.

The band may NEVER be back together! Harris simply can't seem to shake his myriad, season-long leg injuries. Additionally it appears that The Anchorman is Absent with an ankle ailment to go along with his still-broken right big toe, so Denver's elite depth will undoubtedly be tested this evening.

Nuggets vs Sixers II: OK, I'll stop calling it the Leastern conference for the time being.

When last these two teams squared off in game 48 of this season the Nuggets (lap) enjoyed double figure TPM contributions from three players led by Nikola Jokic: +46. Four players were in the red for that match-up, led by Paul Millsap: -3 as the Nuggets defeated an undermanned Sixers squad, sans Butler/Embiid by a score of 126-111.

The aforementioned sat by team choice that night. Tonight it may be more a matter of hangups with regard to all of the activity Philly was involved in leading up to the trade deadline. Many of these players may not be available due to physicals and paperwork required by players from all teams involved, which are needed to complete all trades.

Gone are Chandler, Muscala, Fultz, Saric & Covington and probably some people I've never heard of, while new to the team are Toby & Bobi, Butler, and probably some people I've never heard of.

As for this game, It's pretty difficult to do a decent in-depth pre-game analysis piece, considering all of the moving parts involved in the league's most injured team (by a huge margin) the Denver Nuggets and it's most revamped in the Philadelphia Sixers. Maybe I'll have more pre-game analysis, maybe I wont but more likely if I do it'll appear in the "re-up" section below my injury report.

Now here are some numbers you can use:

Philly gives up 112.1 PPG by their opponents on average, to Denver's 107.1

The Sixers average 115.3 PPG offensively to the Nuggets 112.0

This results in a net rating for Philly of +3.2 and +5.0 for Denver

Philly is 21-6 at home while Denver is 14-13 away from the friendly confines of The Pepsi Can.

In terms of conference record, the Sixers are 20-14 to the Nuggets 23-10 mark which is important only in as much as understanding the strength of schedule involved as the Western Conference has been as much as ever, the stiffer competition.

Denver of course is 2nd in the Western Conference standings, 1 1/2 games behind the Warriors while Philly currently resides in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, 6.5 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 47.1 APG 27.4 SPG 7.7 BPG 5.6 FG% 47.1 FT% 77.2 3% 35.9

DEN: RPG 46.3 APG 27.5 SPG 7.8 BPG 4.6 FG% 47.2 FT% 75.3 3% 35.6

The numbers on whole are remarkably similar 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, The Nuggets have won 14 of their last 20 & 7 of their last 10 while the Sixers have been victorious in 12 of their last 20 games & 6 of their last 10.

For this young Nuggets group, (fourth youngest in the NBA; was youngest at the start of the season but tank-moves made by CHI/NY/PHO have rendered them younger, since) 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.

Having said that, 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 Millsap, Harris, I.T. and MPJ.

There are of course many other variables at play including match-ups; styles make fights. For example, there is no unearthly way to succinctly prepare for a team with a roster in flux. One thing that is undeniable is that Embiid is given star-calls that Jokic has yet to earn, possibly due to his reputation amongst NBA officials, so it will be CRUCIAL for Denver to defend without fouling tonight or Embiid will dominate from the line as he does most nights.

Prediction: Denver (lap ) 111 - Philly 121

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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 ear-balls & eye-drums.

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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
23	Jimmy "The Winter of our Discontent" Butler	SG	29	6' 8"	232 lbs	Marquette	$20,445,779
21	Joel "Redshirt" Embiid	C	24	7' 0"	250 lbs	Kansas	$25,467,250
34	Tobias "Toby" Harris	SF	26	6' 9"	235 lbs	Tennessee	$14,800,000
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	Parts Unknown (RIP Tony Bourdain)	$1,512,601
30	Furkan "A" Korkmaz	SG	21	6' 7"	190 lbs	Parts Unknown (RIP Tony Bourdain)	$1,740,000
51	Boban "& Bobi" Marjanovic	C	30	7' 3"	290 lbs	Serbia	$7,000,000
12	T.J. "Mitch" McConnell	PG	26	6' 2"	190 lbs	Arizona	$1,600,520
18	"Master" Shake Milton	SG	22	6' 6"	207 lbs	SMU	G-Money
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
22	Malachi "Children Of The Corn" Richardson	SG	23	6' 6"	205 lbs	Syracuse	$1,569,360
30	Mike "TWSS" Scott	PF	30	6' 8"	237 lbs	Virginia	$4,320,500
25	Ben "Also Redshirt" Simmons	PG	22	6' 10"	230 lbs	LSU	$6,434,520
17	Jonathon "The Depth" Simmons	G	29	6' 6"	195 lbs	Houston	$6,000,000
8	Zhaire "Sp? #10" Smith	SG	19	6' 4"	199 lbs	Texas Tech	$2,526,840

Denver Nuggets - Roster

NO	Player	POS	HT	WT	DOB (AGE)	EXP	College
5	Will "The People's Champion" Barton	SG	6-6	190	1/6/1991 (28)	6	Memphis
25	"Mutant" Malik Beasley	SG	6-5	195	11/26/1996 (22)	2	Florida State
3	Torrey "FUCKING" Craig	SF	6-7	215	12/19/1990 (28)	1	South Carolina Upstate
6	Brandon "Hopefully Contributes To Many The" Goodwin	PG	6-2	180	10/2/1995 (23)	R	Central Florida; Florida Gulf
14	"Just" Gary Harris	SG	6-4	210	9/14/1994 (24)	4	Michigan State
41	Juancho "The Mouthful" Hernangomez	PF	6-9	230	9/28/1995 (23)	2	Espana
15	Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic (AKA The Joker)	C	7-0	250	2/19/1995 (23)	3	Gotham
20	Tyler "Not just Anunobody" Lydon	PF	6-10	225	4/9/1996 (22)	1	Syracuse
7	Trey "The Swiss Army Spork" Lyles	PF	6-10	234	11/5/1995 (23)	3	Kentucky
4	Paul "The Anchorman" Millsap	PF	6-8	246	2/10/1985 (33)	12	Louisiana Tech
11	Monte "Ratio" Morris	PG	6-3	175	6/27/1995 (23)	1	Iowa State
27	Jamal "The Blue Arrow" Murray	PG	6-4	207	2/23/1997 (21)	2	Kentucky
24	Mason "Plumdog Millionaire" Plumlee	PF	6-11	235	3/5/1990 (28)	5	Duke
1	Michael "The Sleeper Cell" Porter Jr.	PF	6-10	210	6/29/1998 (20)	R	Missouri
0	Isaiah "Ice" Thomas	PG	5-9	185	2/7/1989 (29)	7	Washington
8	Jarred "The Amalgamated Version Of A Dude I Once Bought Weed From On Haight Ashbury" Vanderbilt	PF	6-9	214	4/3/1999 (19)	R	Kentucky
45	Thomas "Irvine" Welsh	C	7-0	255	2/3/1996 (23)	R	UCLA

Update: MPJ and I.T. are sleeping on Ice, awaiting Intel as to when their services will be required. Harris is also out with recurring leg ailments. Millsap is questionable with an ankle injury. Wow! That was short! As for the Sixers, Joel Embiid - questionable (illness), Haywood Highsmith - questionable (illness), Zhaire Smith - out (foot) according to Zach Mikash at Denver Stiffs. While everyone not in the above pictured starting five is questionable due to logistics, according to me.

Re-up: Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott will be available to play for the Sixers tonight. IT is for the first time of the season questionable to make his Nuggets debut!

Re-Re-up: Harris, Millsap, MPJ & IT are all still out for Denver and Simmons is the only reported new-acquisition inactive for Philly.

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Data:

TPM™ Game 55 PHI

Nikola Jokic: +34

Jamal Murray: +25

Monte Morris: +4

Mason Plumlee: +4

Will Barton: +12

Malik Beasley: -7

Trey Lyles: +20

Jared Vanderbilt:N/A

Juancho: +1

Torrey Craig: -5

Thomas Welsh: N/A

Brandon Goodwin: N/A

Tyler Lydon: N/A

Gary Harris: Injured

Paul Millsap: Injured

Isaiah Thomas: Injured

Michael Porter Jr.: Injured

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Total TPM™

Nikola Jokic: 53 games +1253

Jamal Murray: 49 games +849

Monte Morris: 55 games +663

Mason Plumlee: 55 games +444

Will Barton: 16 games +134

Malik Beasley: 55 games +412

Trey Lyles: 53 games +308

Jared Vanderbilt: 2 games +10

Juancho: 52 games +12

Torrey Craig: 52 games -6

Thomas Welsh: 9 games +18

Brandon Goodwin: 16 games +28

Tyler Lydon: 21 games -2

Gary Harris: 32 games +448

Paul Millsap: 43 games +361

Isaiah Thomas: 0 games +0

Michael Porter Jr.: 0 games +0

Nick Young: 3 games -2

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: 6 games +5

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Nikola Jokic: +23.64

Jamal Murray: +17.33

Monte Morris: +12.05

Mason Plumlee: +8.07

Will Barton: +8.38

Malik Beasley: +7.49

Trey Lyles: +5.81

Jared Vanderbilt: +5.00

Juancho: +0.23

Torrey Craig: -0.12

Thomas Welsh: +2.00

Brandon Goodwin: +1.75

Tyler Lydon: -0.10

Gary Harris: +14.00

Paul Millsap: +8.40

Isaiah Thomas: N/A

Michael Porter Jr.: N/A

Nick Young: -0.67

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell: +0.83

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits Through Game 48:

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

Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their 14th iteration of the starting five, consisting of Murray, Beasley, Barton, Plumlee & Jokic, The Sixers counter with Redick, Butler, Simmons, Harris & Embiid. Ugggh. Dorris is doing color on this one. I LIKE her knowledge and analysis but she struggles not to talk about NY/NJ when she covers games in Denver, even vs other Western Conference foes. This could get bad fast. The pace is fast and the execution sound for both teams and it's even-Steven at six, with 9:18 to go. Toby is getting it going for his new club and the Sixers lead by eight on the strength of an 8-0 run. Full disclosure, if this gets ugly fast, I'm publishing what I've got, watching Big Brother (guilty pleasure) and coming back to the game later to complete the data.

Murray is misfiring early which is NOT an option for Denver tonight. Beasley is the first player in the history of basketball who is actually a better three point shooter when he looks down to check & see that his feet are behind the line. Jokic is out of sorts for the third straight game and looks lethargic and fatigued still. Lyles checks in for the Nuggets who trail by seven at 5:15, followed soon-after by Craig. Barton is STILL invisible in 2019. Morris enters at 2:43, trailing by six. Denver has managed to regain some semblance of grasp on this one and trail by eight with under a minute to go. Poor clock management/shot selection by the Nuggets however, leads to two easy points to close it out for Philly. Denver is paced in TPM by Murray +9 as they trail 23-33 after one.

Qtr2- I really need to pee but my milk jug is on the other side of The Pat Cave. Juancho is in to open the second period. Lyles is providing nothing as per usual and the Sixers lead by nine at 8:48. Make that an 11 point lead after two wide open threes by Redick. Philly has deployed 10 players thus far which frankly surprises me only because I didn't think they had that many available bodies. Must be nice to not have injuries to contend with all year long. These Philly fanatics are odd; as loud as it gets when loud & as quiet as it gets when quiet. Philly leads by 16 after a three by Ennis at 5:48. No Nuggets players are in double digits yet. Denver is afraid of the paint yet refusing to move without the ball on offense. Jokic draws a second offensive foul on Embiid; something that surprises me greatly. That is NOT the way things went way back when Big Honey wasn't an All Star.

Denver is fighting back a bit and cut it to seven on the strength of an 11-2 run. To his credit, Barton is starting to attack the rim in a display of lead-by-example catalystic energy. Plumlee just passed out of a fucking uncontested dunk! Jokic cuts it to three on an 18 foot J. Beasley cuts it to two on a break-away dunk! Out of nowhere, all starters but Plumlee are in double figures for Denver. The Joker is fouled on a three attempt with 5 seconds to go and he makes all three to tie it up! Simmons misses on just his second three attempt of the season as the buzzer sounds. Not a fun game but a good one. Full disclosure, I typed the following (under the 2nd period analysis, as I'd planned a halftime escape) when the Nuggets were lackadaisical and trailing by 16 but needless to say it's no longer the case: "and fuck this, I'm watchin' ma' stories. I'll be back with the data' lata'." Denver is led in TPM by Barton +13 & Jokic/Murray +15 as they're knotted up at 56 at the half.

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Qtr3- The Nuggets closed the half on a 20-4 run. Who's better, Moses or Mike Malone? I keed. The Bible is a book of fiction so it's obviously Mike. Beasley is struggling to defend Redick and the Sixers lead by one at 9:04. JJ is a perfect 6-6 from downtown and they lead by four at the time of the first break, 8:59. Denver has yet to lead in this one. Big Honey is on 3D watch as always with 16-4-6 as are Murray with 15-4-4 and Plumlee should he start scoring with 2-7-5. If not for Redick and his 26 points this would slant decidedly in the favor of the Nuggets. He's the only Sixer in double figures. Embiid seems to struggle in the double team if I may be ultra critical. JJ again drills a three and they lead by six at 7:55. Philly is camping in the paint offensively and gets caught for the second time on a three second call in the third period. They follow this up with a D-3 call. Interestingly officiated game to say the least. It has been good officiating which is rather odd. Barton enters the 3D conversation with 12-6-4. Denver is not imploding in the third for the first time in three games and they trail by four at 4:33. I can not possibly understate the all around success of tonight's starting five for the Nuggets which is good to finally see as they are at least getting one returning starter, Barton, off the snide.

Philly looks every bit the squad who are integrating new players into their rotation in the second half thus-far. It's once again tied with 2:45 remaining. Again, Denver has yet to lead tonight. Lyles has rebounded (metaphorically so) nicely in this period. He makes the fifth Nuggets player with five or more assists. Embiid has been silent in this quarter and I wish Montezuma's revenge on no man but if Denver can be the beneficiary then so be it. Simmons has also been held in check and a good portion of this may be due to something ESPN is failing to mention; while Jokic grew up playing PG, Jamal grew up playing C. Lyles gives the Nuggets their first lead at the 2:15 mark. Philly hasn't had a field-goal in over five minutes! Denver sends JJ to the line on two straight trips up the floor which is never a good strategy to deploy. Dorris hits on an important point: "I think this Nuggets team is in desperate need of the looming All Star break." I paraphrased there but that's the gist in real time. The Sixers finally score a field goal and retake the lead at 1:15. JJ FINALLY misses a three thereafter. Embiid annihilates Plumlee on an undercut and there's no call! One of very few officiating blemishes tonight. Murray gets to take the final shot and it's blocked by Embiid. Denver is paced in TPM by Barton +10, Lyles +14, Murray +21 & Jokic +23 as they trail by the slimmest of margins, 82-83 after three.

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Qtr4- Embiid earns a star call, Barton's fourth foul unfortunately. Denver can NOT enter the bonus early in the fourth period and hope to escape with the W. Barton is starting to find the spots on the floor in which his rim-rattlers are nearly 100% true, which is good to finally see. JJ is now killing the good guys from the charity stripe and the Sixers again lead by one at 9:45. I'm reminded in this game that Barton's game also helps Lyles as a spot-up shooter tremendously. Plumlee nabs his fourth foul and the teams third, in checking Embiid at 8:44 and Philly leads by three. Big Honey checks in for him at this time to play alongside Lyles which rarely works, so they convert on the G&G. Jamal sticks a three and the Nuggets lead at the time of the first break by two, at 7:50. Trey makes five in double digits for Denver. Mark Jones astutely points out that the Nuggets "exhaled" following their loss to Minnesota three games ago, which couldn't be more true, especially given that they eliminated the Nuggets from the playoffs on game 82 last year and Denver's recent win over them came the night after defeating the Nuggets biggest nemesis over the course of the past few season, Houston, then arriving at 4 am to face the Wolves. This has been as exhausting as a four game trip can be for the injured Nuggets so a 2-2 split would be HUGE should they earn it tonight.

I don't know the numbers but Philly turns the ball over a lot. Denver earns their fourth team foul which could be huge, at 5:45. This allows the Sixers to retake the lead from the charity stripe. Jokic is "Droppin' dimes like a bank teller" says Jones as the score is once again even with 4:09 remaining. Big Honey has a 2D and is three boards shy of yet another 3D. The "starters" are in for both squads to close. Philly is going on a mini-run and lead by six at 2:21. They have shot 27 FT's to just 10 for Denver but on this night I'd call that a matter of aggression more so than bad officiating. Beasley is struggling defensively tonight and this is precisely the type of rare scenario in which I'd actually advocate for inserting Craig. The lead for Philly is six at 1:30. Embiid sticks a J, it's up to eight and it doesn't look like the Nuggets have enough fuel remaining in the tank to pull one out tonight. Big Honey comes up one mark (rebounds) shy of a 3D for the eleventy brazillianth time. The Nuggets have nothing to hang their heads about tonight. I spoke too soon as Nikola earned that 3D after-all in the waning moments. Plumlee fouls out with 29 seconds to go and that's a wrap. Denver is paced in TPM by Barton +12, Lyles +20, Murray +25 & Jokic +34 as they come up short in Pennsylvania, 110-117

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Final Thoughts I'd like to see Juancho shut down to heal up as his floor-spacing will be needed at the end of the year. His minutes can go to Vando until IT, Harris & 'Sap are healthy. Very nice to see this team show some fight even in defeat, after two ugly losses on the road. Come on down off of that bridge "This very moment only" Nuggets fans on Twitter/Stiffs. I heard nothing about NY/NJ and I'd have to say that the Jones/Burke combo is amongst the very few national telecast crews that I now find enjoyable.

We Suck Again!

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 42 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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