The Denver Nuggets were riding a dominant seven-game winning streak heading into Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, and unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end.
In a nail-biting 130-127 loss to the Bulls, the Nuggets not only suffered their first loss since October, but also their first home loss of the season. The Nuggets are still sitting in second place in the West with a 10-3 record, and on the bright side for Denver, the rare loss should give them plenty to learn from.
After the game, Nikola Jokic was asked what went wrong for the Nuggets defensively, as they allowed the Bulls to score 130 points, the most of any Denver opponent in regulation this season.
“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” Jokic admitted. “We tried to cross-match, we tried drop, we tried me going back to the shooter. So, it was a little bit of everything. They had a really good night, shooting night, they scored 19 threes. But it seemed like we were always a step late in communication, closeouts, and reaction. We were always kind of a step late.”
The Bulls are not an easy team to defend with many versatile players, especially when they have six guys scoring 13+ points. Even in a game where Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray dropped 36 and 34 points, respectively, the Nuggets’ defense let them down.
How the Bulls made it difficult for the Nuggets
Jokic also detailed how the Bulls were able to make it challenging for the Nuggets throughout the game, while admitting a few mistakes of their own.
“Yeah, I mean, we started slow, we couldn’t make a shot,” Jokic continued. “In the second half, they were scoring a lot. In the first quarter and second quarter, they were really good, then we had that run at the end of the second quarter. It seemed like they were one step ahead. They were pushing the pace, passing the ball, attacking downhill, and we were kind of just there.”
The Nuggets certainly had some problems of their own in Monday’s loss, but Jokic makes sure to give credit where it’s due after the Bulls played like the better team. The Nuggets should certainly be able to use this loss as a learning experience, and with a favorable schedule coming up, there should not be many more of them.
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