Second-half surge leads Bulls to victory over Nuggets |
CHICAGO - Despite all the struggles, the Bulls can still beat some of the best teams on any given night, which was the case on Monday as the Bulls welcomed the Denver Nuggets (28-18) to the United Center. What started as an offensive-minded first half with the Nuggets leading 68-61 turned into an exciting finish as the Bulls used a massive second half to pick up an impressive 129-121 win. It was a win that no one saw coming, and given their schedule coming up, it was a win this team desperately needed.
Before the start of the game, Billy Donovan made a lineup change that was vastly overdue, as Patrick Williams was removed from the starting lineup in favor of Ayo Dosunmu. That meant the Bulls would be playing with an extremely small lineup, as they started the game with four guards on the floor. That didn't matter for them as their new look lineup looked very good and could be a sign of things to come. As expected, Zach Lavine continued to lead the way for the Bulls as he has picked up his play with Coby White still on the mend. Lavine had one of those games where he was very efficient, which is evident by his 5-10 showing from deep to lead the Bulls with 21 points. Even with him being their lone scorer to score more than 20, seven players landed in double figures, including all five starters, which couldn't be said when Williams was in the starting five. Backing Lavine in having a big game was the Bulls lone big man in their starting lineup, Nikola Vucevic as he continued to go about his business on the floor to finish with 20 points and 10 boards. The biggest lift came from Lonzo Ball, who is starting to look like the player of old. Not only has Ball continued to shoot the ball well, going 4-7 from deep, but with a season-high 18 points in 25 minutes, he continues to light it up. Dosunmu and Josh Giddey rounded out the starting five with 17 points and 12 points as Giddey also added 10 assists to give the Bulls two players with double doubles. Not only was the Bulls starting five playing well, but so did the Bulls bench as Williams settled into his potential new role to drop 11 points and eight boards. However, this was all about Dalen Terry who put one of his best games together by scoring 13 points in 13 minutes to help lead the Bulls second unit. As expected, the success of the Nuggets starts and stops with the Joker Nikola Jokic, and the big man was at it again with a game-high 33 points. Jokic was far from a one-trick pony, picking up 12 rebounds and 14 assists for another double-double as he continues to play at an MVP level. Like the Bulls, all five Nuggets starters landed in double figures, including Christian Braun, who came up huge with 28 points in 11-15 shooting. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr each added 18 points for the Nuggets, with Porter Jr drawing most of the attention as the rumored trade to the Bulls continues to pop up. Rounding out the starting five for the Nuggets was Russell Westbrook, who finished the game with 14 points. The biggest difference in this one was the lack of a bench for the Nuggets, as their bench was responsible for only 10 points. Six of those 10 points came from Aaron Gordon, but when only three players see time off the bench, you're setting yourself up to fail, which is what the Nuggets did in this one.
