Nuggets-Bulls Instant Reactions: Nikola Jokic gets another triple-double but Denver’s bench no-shows

Nikola Jokic finished with 36 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists but the Nuggets fell 130-127 to the Chicago Bulls as Denver‘s 7-game win streak came to an end.

It was an especially disappointing result for the Nuggets, especially considering Chicago came into Denver on the second night of a back to back after losing in double-OT to the Jazz in Utah last night. Jamal Murray finished with 34 points.

Here’s what else stood out from the game.

Cam Johnson has had a shaky offensive start to the season, but that changed in the 1st half vs. Chicago. Johnson scored 13 points in the 1st half and 10 in the 2nd quarter. Overall he shot 3-5 from 3-point range in the 1st half.

It was a huge sigh of relief, especially considering he missed the Nuggets win over the Timberwolves with a bicep strain. But Johnson looked healthy and aggressive against the Bulls.

He was a big reason that the Nuggets outscored the Bulls 36-33 in the 2nd quarter and took a 64-63 lead into halftime.

It wasn’t the prettiest triple-double of his season, but it was Jokic‘s quickest. Jokic collected his 10th assist of the game at the 9:15 mark of the 3rd quarter.

It’s Jokic’s 8th triple-double in 13 games. He also swished a beautiful baseline Sombor Shuffle in the 3rd quarter too — it’s interestingly a shot he hasn’t taken a lot this season. Quite frankly, he hasn’t had to.

Chicago outscored Denver 31-21 in the 3rd to take a 10-point lead to the 4th quarter. Jokic had 25 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists through three quarters but it was the Nuggets defense that did Denver in.

It was a lazy, lethargic, and out of charecter defensive performance from the Nuggets who have been so good on that end of the floor so far this season. Coming into tonight, Denver ranked 2nd in the NBA in defense. There’s definitely some noise to that ranking but tonight was a discouraging defensive performance.