Observations: Jokić scores 39, Bulls drop another close game originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
In the Bulls' (15-18) second-to-last game before the All-Star break, the Denver Nuggets (19-15) zoomed into Chicago and won 118-112. An Artūras Karnišovas revenge game was not in the cards.
Here are 15 observations:
1. Wendell Carter Jr. told reporters after morning shootaround that Karnišovas was especially excited for this game -- the first time the Bulls executive vice president's new team would face the organization for which he once served as general manager. But the Bulls hardly played like it early, as the Nuggets sprinted out to a 16-3 lead, forging ahead 37-25 by the end of the first quarter.
2. The Bulls ranked eighth in defensive rating in an 8-6 month of February, but showed signs of regression in that first quarter. The Nuggets shot 59.3 percent in the frame and posted the 19th 35-plus point quarter by a Bulls opponent this season.
3. Nikola Jokić dominated early, finishing 10 first-quarter minutes with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. His passing, especially, bent the mind:
He entered the half with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, then came alive in the fourth with another 17. He finished with a final line of 39 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists. Double him, he burns you with the pass. Single-cover, he'll bruise you under the basket -- or shoot over the top. And he does it all with a rare, herky-jerky flare. A remarkable, inevitable player, for whom the Bulls had no answer.
4. Zach LaVine, meanwhile, didn't take his first shot until more than six minutes into the first quarter, a product of the Nuggets hurling waves of bodies his way at every turn, a trend that continued throughout.
In turn, it wasn't LaVine's most explosive scoring night -- he finished with 23 -- but he read the double-teams levied against relatively reliably, finishing with 5 assists and a number of hockey assists. Caveat: An ill-timed travel with less than a minute to play marked his fourth and final turnover, and all but clinched the Nuggets' win.
5. The Bulls punched back on multiple occasions, and for a while, but the Nuggets seemed to always have an answer. After a scoring spurt by Jamal Murray pushed the visitor's lead as high as 15 early in the second, the Bulls chipped away to end the first half trailing just 62-55. A 5-0 Nuggets run to start the third prompted a Donovan timeout just 32 seconds into the period -- continuing his penchant for quick-trigger time calls when the Bulls sputter.
But by the final minute of the third, the Bulls were back within 86-85 on the heels of a run that, you guessed it, was keyed by the bench. On the strength of a 13-5 run to close the third, they entered the fourth behind just 89-87; Thad Young quickly plunked in consecutive hook shots to put the Bulls ahead early in the fourth. The Nuggets didn't score until nearly four minutes into the fourth as the Bulls' advantage swelled to as many as six.
Eventually, though, they stormed back to secure a six-point victory.
6. The Bulls' reserves outscored the Nuggets' 39-17, taking advantage of a thin Denver squad playing without JaMychal Green, Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Facundo Campazzo.
- Thad Young silly stat line alert: He finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and (a season-high-tying) 4 steals, making big play after big play throughout.
- Denzel Valentine entered the game 3-for-25 from 3 in his last six games, but made 3 of 8 tries in this one.
- Ryan Arcidiacono played 9 minutes, scoring 5 points, hitting a 3 and swiping a steal in the third quarter
- Luke Kornet made two more 3s! He's now 5-for-8 from deep in the Bulls' last two games after starting the season 1-for-14, and remains entrenched ahead of Daniel Gafford (DNP) in the rotation.
- Those four, plus Coby White, formed the five-man unit that sprinted back into the game in a third quarter. At one point between the third and early fourth, they scored 23 straight points for the Bulls.
7. The trio of Jokić (39), Murray (24) and Michael Porter Jr. (17) combined for 70 points. Murray delivered a dagger fastbreak 3 to put the Nuggets up 112-108 with 1:39 remaining. Playing short-handed, the Nuggets' big guns delivered.
8. White struggled to a first-half line of 4 points, 2 assists and 2 turnovers, but came alive to the tune of 11 in the third quarter, 16 in the second half. Though his final shooting line -- 7-for-17, 2-for-7 from deep -- leaves something to be desired, he found a way to make a big impact, pulling down 10 boards for his third points-rebounds double-double of the season and leading the Bulls with 37 minutes..
9. Patrick Williams cracked double-figures for the fifth time in his last seven games. He picked up a crucial fourth-quarter block on Jokić, and, well, got dunked on the next possession.
10. The Bulls shot just 27-for-48 in the paint.
12. Bright spots: The Bulls committed just 10 turnovers on the evening...
13. ... scored a season-high 28 points on the fastbreak (and limited the Nuggets to 9)...
14. ... and held the Nuggets to just 20 free-throw attempts, taking 22 of their own. For most of the season, the Bulls have ben one of the league's more foul-happy teams on defense and languished near the basement in charity-stripe tries per night.
15. The Bulls entered play second in the NBA in "clutch" games this season -- contests within a five-point margin with five minutes or less to play -- with 20. They played another one tonight, but the loss moves their record to 9-12 in such games, bottom 10 in the league. They're hanging around in almost every game, but the hump eludes them.
Next up: At the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. Then, the All-Star break.
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