Nuggets vs Pistons II: "Enough! Feed MVP!"

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 46 DET

Nikola "Big Honey" Jokic: +43

Aaron "Aar" Gordon: +27

"Brontosaurus" Monte Morris: +5

"Uncle" Jeff Green: +10

"Bones" Hyland: +1

Facundo "El Mago" Campazzo: -3

Bryn "The Djinn" Forbes: +1

DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins: +5

Zeke "Freaky Deeky Zeeky" Nnaji: -2

Austin "Tributary" Rivers: +0

"Mr Dependable" Davon Reed: -2

"Wet" Markus Howard: N/A

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Total TPM™

Nikola Jokic: 40 games +1478

Aaron Gordon: 42 games +573

Monte Morris: 41 games +525

Will Barton: 39 games +311

Jeff Green: 41 games +159

Bones Hyland: 35 games +219

Facundo Campazzo: 45 games +379

Bryn Forbes: 3 game +14

DeMarcus Cousins: 2 games +6

JaMychal Green: 35 games +33

Zeke Nnaji: 29 games +72

Austin Rivers: 33 games +52

Davon Reed: 20 games +62

Markus Howard: 18 games +54

Jamal Murray: 0 games +0

Michael Porter Jr: 9 games +56

Vlatko Cancar: 14 games +56

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Avg. TPM™ Per Game

Nikola Jokic: +36.95

Aaron Gordon: +13.64

Monte Morris: +12.80

Will Barton: +7.97

Jeff Green: +3.88

Bones Hyland: +6.26

Facundo Campazzo: +8.42

Bryn Forbes: +4.67

DeMarcus Cousins: +3.00

JaMychal Green: +0.90

Zeke Nnaji: +2.48

Austin Rivers: +1.58

Davon Reed: +3.10

Markus Howard: +3.00

Jamal Murray: +0.50

Michael Porter Jr: +6.22

Vlatko Cancar: +4.00

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TPM™ Per-Minute Splits (Through game 42 {midway point})

*Credit DomP on the Spreadsheet.

Analysis:

Qtr1- The Nuggets go with their 15TH starting five, consisting of Monte, Rivers, Unc, AG & MVP. The Pistons counter with beleaguered G-Leaguers, and their stud-rookie. Anal returns tonight, as promised. No Barton tonight, finally getting a night off for the injury he sustained ON DECEMBER FUCKING 9TH!!!! Austin starts in his stead. Stewart wins the tip and we are underway. MVP looks focused early; like a man who wants to rest in the 4th, ahead of the B2B. The same should be said for AG. Denver leads by three at the time of the first break, 6:55.

Joker has 5/5/3 already at this time. Forbes is first off the pine for the good guys, as Rivers earns his 2nd foul, at 5:15. Monte is still ice-cold, but Denver leads by nine, nonetheless, at the time of the next break, 3:36. Nnaji is in at this time. They took an assist away, but MVP still has 11/9/3 at 1:56, leading by seven. Cunningham's three point shooting has kept Detroit within double figures. They just took a rebound away too. Son of a! Reed/Facu/Boogie enter at this time. Cade gets his 2nd foul and he checks out at :51. Facu has been BAD bad in the early going, and the lead is down to two quickly.

Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic: +18 as they lead 34-32 after one.

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Qtr2- Bones is in to open the 2nd. Denver turns it over, surrenders a layup and a rage-timeout occurs in new-record time. I mean... What do you expect when you put a 6'3 sg at the 3 Malone? Reed was the man who was replaced, after under a minute of court time. Coach struggles SO MUCH with in-game decisions. Detroit is going cold, and the lead is five at 10:01. Zeke has been excellent on the offensive glass. Boogie has been great on both ends and the lead is back up to nine at the time of the first break, 8:08. Rivers checks in first for the starting five at 7:31, replacing Forbes, up ten. Ag is next in at 6:44, up eight. Boogie blows a kiss to a heckler after making two at the line.

The guy is then escorted out of the game. Love it! The rest of the starters enter at 6:35, up nine. Josh Jackson has been ejected with two T's for chirping. Rivers has played exceptional D tonight, thus-far. Joseph/Stewart get their third fouls on consecutive plays, and both take a seat. AG's passing has been just a hair off tonight. Jokic has a 2D with 17/11/5 and a 10 point lead, at 1:48, as Denver goes into the bonus. Reed/Nnaji enter to protect Green/Rivers who have two fouls, at :32, up 10. MVP with 19/11/5 in just 16 minutes of action. The man is unbelievable. Denver attempts 19 ft's in the half! AG/MVP were outstanding.

Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic: +26 as they lead 69-59 at the half.

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Qtr3- The Pistons get the scoring underway on a three from Bey. Denver quickly has the lead up to 14 and Detroit calls an early timeout at 10:03. Looks like BK is in a dog-fight with the hapless L's, so it'd sure be nice to be able to rest our starters in the 4th, for tomorrow's B2B game in Brooklyn. Stewart gets his fourth foul at 9:45, but remains in. He's trying his best to foul out early, it seems, as he gets his 5th at 8:38 and must sit. Rivers makes four in double digits for Denver, who lead by 15 at 7:52.

The lead is 13 at the time of the next break, 6:13. Jeff sits with his 4th foul at 5:45, up 10. Malone calls another rage timeout after Nnaji gives up an and-one, and the lead is down to nine at 4:51. MVP is three-dimes-shy of a 3D, with 23/14/7. Bench players are tricking in for both sides. Nuggets legend Rodney McGruder is in for Detroit at 3:07, trailing by 11. Lyles is flopping his ass off tonight. Joker's three-ball is way off tonight and the lead is eight at 1:45. MVP has 25/19/8 after three.

Denver is paced in TPM by Jokic: +40 as they lead 97-85 after three.

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Qtr4- The Nuggets should be able to rest their starters if the Bench unit can only hod serve. Jokic/AG went the whole way in the third, and they are on the bench to open the fourth. The bench surrenders two turnovers to open the period. The D has been surprisingly good for Denver in the 4th, but they can't generate any shots on the other end. Cunningham returns at 9:13, trailing by 10. Notable that Bones is not out there for Denver. Detroit cuts it to eight at 8:37, and I gotta think that the non-front-court starters for Denver will unfortunately have to check in after another rage-timeout. Morris and oddly, Uncle Jeff are in. Rivers remains out. Boogie gets called for an awful lot of screening fouls.

Facu has just been REALLY bad tonight, and overall, lately, as MVP readies to enter on the sideline, leading by just six. It's all perimiter for Denver. Cunninghame with a three forces Malone to FINALLLY call a timeout, up three at 5:33. Coach is struggling tonight, big time. The starters enter at this time for Denver. MVP sticks an apathy three imediatly upon entering. That is just Denver's second bucket of the quarter! Detroit is pretty goddamned floppy in the post. MVP is one dime from his 3D, and the lead is eight at 2:45. He's got 28/20/9. The lead is four with :49 to go. Jokic is hacked and of course no call is made, with 26 seconds to go. Monte is fouled with 11.5 seconds to go, sticks 'em both, and that should do it.

Denver is paced in TPM byJokic: +43 as they win 110-105.

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Final Thoughts:

• Denver wins and in so doing, improves to 25-21 on the year.
  
• Not the homecoming that Monte envisioned, I'm sure. Something in Mom's tacos?
  
• No more Facu, Coach, I begeth of thee. ESPECIALLY in a three guard lineup with the nearly as diminutive Forbes/Bones.
  

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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 45-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.

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