Nuggets captured by “basketball hooray” Bulls

Unbeaten at home this season, v The Nuggets crashed into their room last night against the Bulls. In the interval, Chicago was cheap, with five straight losses, especially as Nikola Jokic’s partners were aiming for an 8th win in a row.

But the Bulls, even tired from their two overtime games in Utah, did better on their final possessions and eventually won 130-127 at Ball Arena. Once again, the Bulls’ speed and free-flowing basketball made the difference.

“They play fast even after scoring baskets”underscored by Jamal Murray. “And when they go, they really go.” It’s not just one player: several guys made an impact on the game tonight. They just played fast and free. I think their bullpen did more damage than their starters. »

Indeed, it was Chicago’s “second unit” that made the difference with Jalen Smith, Ayo Dosunmu and Javon Carter. Between them, they have 53 points, compared to just 9 points on Denver’s entire bench. Skilled from long range (9 of 18 on 3-pointers), this trio also played well on the counterattack with 23 points scored for the Bulls as a whole.

In contrast, the Nuggets tried to keep the pace, but showed great clumsiness: 3 of 13 on the fast game! “It was just a weird match overall”summarized by David Adelman. “I think we let the game get weird with our approach. And when you’re in a match like this, anything can happen.”

The Nuggets remain on a three-game losing streak against the Bulls

For the Nuggets coach, this loss is a combination of slowness at the beginning of the match, lack of concentration on offense or attention on defense.

“Their pitching killed us. We were just falling behind in rotations. We were trying different things to stop it.” analyzed by David Adelmanbefore we discuss this risky play by the Bulls. “They just put their heads down and attacked. They’re scoring 50 points a game, and that’s not a crazy number, but I found they had the edge most of the time, just with their aggressiveness. And honestly, defense is one thing, but you can’t go 3-of-13 on a fast break in a game where this team gives you all these points in transition and they give you all these points in transition. Obviously not enough compared to what we could have taken. We were really careless in the transition game…

On the Chicago side, we are building a reputation as a Nuggets enemy as this is their third straight win in their matchups. For Billy Donovan, this success is all the more rewarding because the team has been consecutive after that a tough loss to the Jazz.

“The substitutions were very good and hats off to Jalen and Javon. They didn’t get any playing time the day before and we talked about that after the game last night. It was double overtime, we’re going to need them all.” warned the coach of the Bulls. “I like how those two stayed fit. I thought Julian and Patrick, as well as Jaylen, were very, very good. The five played very well. They got tired, we replaced them and probably lost a little momentum at the end of the first half, but when they came back in the second half they were consistent again. Two good halves from them, and it was fun to watch.”