Nuggets vs Grizzlies II: "Joker vs Bane Part II"

The Good Guys

Their Adversaries

Red boxes above indicate one notable number to catch my eye for each team

(Open images in a new tab for a closer look. Charts courtesy of ESPN.COM. All links contained within this piece will open in a new tab or window.)

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.

In-game analysis will be provided for all games except for the second of B2B and/or weekend games. Data will be tracked for all 82 games, regardless of whether analysis is provided or not.

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Data:

TPM™ Game 8 MEM

Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic: +48

"Showtime" Michael Porter Jr: +0

Aaron "Aar" Gordon: +3

"Brontosaurus" Monte Morris: +7

Will "Thrill" Barton: +21

PJ "Bol" Dozier: -4

"Bones" Hyland: +17

Facundo "El Mago" Campazzo: +2

"Funcle" JaMychal Green: +2

"Uncle" Jeff Green: -6

Austin "Tributary" Rivers: N/A

Zeke "The Piano Man" Nnaji: N/A

Vlatko "Mr Olympia" Cancar: N/A

Bol Bol "Baggins": N/A

"Wet" Markus Howard: N/A

Petr "French Toast" Cornelie: N/A

Jamal "The Blue Arrow" Murray: N/A

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Total TPM™

Nikola Jokic: 8 games +244

Michael Porter Jr: 8 games +58

Aaron Gordon: 8 games +87

Monte Morris: 8 games +95

Will Barton: 8 games +98

PJ Dozier: 8 games +26

Bones Hyland: 5 games +50

Facundo Campazzo: 8 games +9

JaMychal Green: 8 games +0

Jeff Green: 8 games +17

Austin Rivers: 6 games +13

Zeke Nnaji: 2 games +3

Vlatko Cancar: 0 games +0

Bol Bol: 2 games +0

Markus Howard: 2 games +0

Petr Cornelie: 1 games +0

Jamal Murray: 0 games +0

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Nikola Jokic: +30.50

Michael Porter Jr: +7.25

Aaron Gordon: +10.88

Monte Morris: +11.88

Will Barton: +12.25

PJ Dozier: +3.25

Bones Hyland: +10.00

Facundo Campazzo: +1.13

JaMychal Green: 0.00

Jeff Green: +2.13

Austin Rivers: +2.17

Zeke Nnaji: +1.50

Vlatko Cancar: +0.00

Bol Bol: +0.00

Markus Howard: +0.00

Petr Cornelie: +0.00

Jamal Murray: +0.00

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits (2020-'21 final numbers)

*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet.

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Analysis:

Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their opening night starting five, consisting of Morris, Barton, MPJ, AG & the MVP. The Griz' counter with Ja, Bane, Melton, JJJ & Adams. Adams wins the tap and we are under way. I'm looking forward to the {Ja(w)-Bones II} back & forth tonight. I'm not however, looking forward to Bane's smug chops tonight. AG gets the scoring underway with a 15 ft J. Denver needs to win this one; you don't want to carry a two-game losing streak into an ugly uniform unveiling. Jokic takes an only-Jokic foul (the other "bane" of my existence.) Malone takes an early rage-time out after two straight lazy defensive plays by Barton result in five points for Memphis, who lead by six at 9:40.

Katy is dressed as a pilgrim a few weeks early, tonight. Memphis now leads by 10 on the strength of a 12-0 run vs the listless Nuggets. Bones? Yes sir, along with PJ/Jeff/Facu. Only Jokic remains in for Denver. The lead is 12 at 7:15. Memphis is up 14-2 in the paint and they lead by 12 at 5:00. Jokic bumps knees with Adams and goes down. He stays in. The teams are now trading buckets which is sadly, a vast improvement. MVP's J is just off tonight. He is replaced by Senior at 2:39, down 15. Barton also comes in at this time, for Jeff. Memphis can't miss from deep (7-9) and why would they, when they are all uncontested? Only PJ has come to play tonight defensively, for the good guys. If I never see another post up by J-Mike, it'll be too soon. UGLY first period.

Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +12 as they trail 19-37 after one.

Qtr2- J-Mike made a dunk! MPJ is back in for Denver to open the 2nd. Will with the slick reverse jam. Where'd that come from? H's breathing life into the squad and cuts it to 12, causing a timeout by Jenkins. Denver is getting hacked on every drive now and the officials are flat-out refusing to blow their whistles. Monte enters at 8:55, down by 11. The starters all appear to finally have their heads glued on. AG enters at 8:21. Barton with the chase-down block on one end and drive for two on the other, cuts the lead to nine at 7:43. That's what we used to see when he was The People's Champion. More of this, Will. He's first to reach double digits for Denver. MPJ remains scoreless and I'm not sure if he's even attempted a shot yet. Only Jokic remains on the bench for Denver's starting five. It's a 12-3 run for the Nuggets. Senior cuts it to seven on a J, following having his shot blocked. Joker is in for him at 7:10. Joker's 3 foot runner goes only two.

He cuts it to four on an and-one. AG is defending Ja now! That's must-see-TV. MPJ is starting to get active on the glass which could be huge. Denver's defensive intensity has advanced since AG started defending Ja. Defense is even leading to the increasingly rare, transition buckets. AG rejects the bejezuz out of Ja! The lead is down to two at 4:09. Denver ties it up on an and-one opportunity (missed FT) by MPJ. AG takes the lead on a three. Slow-Mo is keeping Memphis in it at this point. AG is giving Ja all sorts of trouble. I've been wanting to see AG defend an elite PG and I'm thrilled with the results. MVP makes two in double digits for Denver. Jokic takes a careless foul vs Adams; his third, and for some reason, Malone leaves him in with 1:35 remaining. MPJ is gobbling up every board, and the Nuggets lead by one with 45 seconds to go. Crazy-ass spinning layup by Ja gives Memphis the one point lead heading into halftime.

Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +20 as they trail 55-56 at the half.

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Qtr3- Denver needs to get Ja to spend some energy on D, where he's way below average. Monte's gotta get going, to achieve this. Barton is holding his hip after a screen; no bueno, given his history of core/hip injuries. He seems to be shaking it off. Joker sticks a three finally, and Denver leads by four. AG with a dunk and Jenkins needs a timeout, trailing by six at 9:15. Denver opens on a 9-2 run. Both teams are picking up the defensive intensity as Denver leads by one at 5:58, and Barton is replaced by PJ. This indicates he'll be running the show for the bench later in this period. Monte levels Adams (flop) on a screen, and the NBA remains broken. Denver is once again shooting poorly from beyond the arc, to the tune of 3-15, as Bones enters for Monte at 4:27, traiing by three. He immediately steals it and dishes to MPJ for two. Atta boy rook! Adams actually DOES level AG on a hip-check screen and of course there is no whistle. The Denver lead is two at 2:46. MVP gets a blow at 2:35, and Barton is back in. Slow-Mo has been the best player for Memphis tonight. Five quick points for Will and the lead is five, as Senior is already replaced by Jeff. He appears to have a lower leg injury. It's Barton + the bench to cloe the third. He drills another three and the lead is eight with a tad over one minute remaining. Facu with an excellent tip-pass to Bones for the dunk, his second of the night/season.

Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +32 as they lead 83-78 after three.

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Qtr4- MPJ makes three in double digits for Denver. JJJ is heating up from distance and the lead is now one, in favor of Memphis, after his third consecutive three, on the strength of an 11-0 run. Jeff is really struggling to make up ground defensively, against him. Denver is intent on feeding Jeff in the post and standing on the perimeter; a recipe for disaster. MPJ sets to check in as Memphis is ona 13-0 run. Barton silences the crowd with a three. Green simply can not defend JJJ. If Senior misses any time, I hope that means Zeke enters (and never leaves) the rotation. J-Mike has been that bad. MPJ enters, trailing by two at 9:32. Jokic enters earlier than usual at 9:05, trailing by five. Bones sticks a three and cuts it to two on a nice feed from Jokic. Denver appears to be resting AG until Ja returns; sound strategy. Joker has a 2D with 22/10/4. Another three for JJJ and the lead is six at 7:48. Time to play through the MVP. Memphis has been bettwe with Ja resting tonight for some reason. AG sets to check in, traling by six at 6:45. Jokic drains a three from Nashville on a broken play! Ja is also entering at this time of course. Monte is in for Bones, which I don't love, and the starters for both squads are in tact. Memphis is shooting 54% from distance. Will cuts it to four on a drive at 4:45. MPJ has a 2D with 12/10/0. Denver is picking up the D and Joker cuts it to two on a long J at 3:51.

Monte ties it on a mid-range J. MVP with the steal which leads to a fade-away J on the other end for the lead. Ja ties it on a pump-fake-drive. Banes sticks a three late in the clock abd Memphis leads by three. Will takes an ill advised three, his second in a row, with Joker wide open and things don't look good for Denver, down three, with 36 seconds remaining. Jokic gets two back on a drive and it's time to play the foul game with under 17 seconds to go, and Memphis leading by one. Memphis has left a ton of points on the table from the line, so it's not over. AG fouls Ja with 12.5 to go. That was their foul to give, unfortunatley. Bane travels in a recidivist-fashion on the sideline, prior to inbounding, but the ref allows him to call a timeout instead. It lso seemed like much more than five seconds. AG fouls Ja with 10.6 seconds to go, and this time he'll shoot free throws, where he is 1-5 on the night. He misses the front end and sticks the second. Denver calls a time out, trailing by two with 10.1 seconds to play. Gotta find a way to get the ball into the hands of Big Honey, the NBA's best closer, here so he can create a shooting foul. He is fouled but failed to get the shot up, under heavy durress. That's definitely better than forcing it. Now there is nothing to think about; get it to the MVP and go to work, with 8.9 on the clock. GOTTA steal this big road win. Jokic gets an excellent look form 10 and comes up short. That one stung.

Denver is paced in TPM by Nikola Jokic: +48 as theydrop two in Memphis, tonight by a final score of 106-108

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Final Thoughts:

• Denver drops to 4-4 on the young season.
  
• Barton got the team going in the second but switching AG onto Ja was clearly the pivotal moment tonight. Let's try starting him against the oponent's best player from Jump-street, ok?
  
• I don't really hate Bane. The great ones; Jordan, Tiger, Gretzky, myself, all fabricate rivalries to gain the competitive advantage. My writing is merely well-above-average when I'm under-motivated.
  
• Malone's in-game coaching has improved this year. Still his weakness but you like to see the improvement.
  
• Nice to have the bench not be a liability for the first time this year. (2nd qtr bullet-point that didn't age well.)
  
• JJJ is very talented, when not fouling himself into oblivion.
  
• MPJ's rebounding increase tonight is a direct result of AG playing perimiter D and not occupying the same area, and Denver needs to figure out how to make this a more regular occurance.
  
• Lets go Zeke!
• If they don't annihilate the hapless Houston squad on Friday, the Nuggets adorned in their hideous new "city" jerseys, I and my dog shall riot!
  

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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 44-year-old man who was born during the season in which the team I love joined the NBA. I happen to have a lifetime of experience with this sport in several 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 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 appreciate your the support.

I can be found at @prmorphine on Twitter.

Also, my DIY music production and videos can be heard/seen here if you don't value your ear-balls & eye-drums.

And as always, get the jab, wear the mask, act like a good person privately and especially in public; even if you are not, and most importantly, fuck the Lakers.

#DoNotBeABranchCovidian
#DoNotBeAnAmmosexual
#FuckTheLakersOneMoreTimeJustForGoodMeasure
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