The Chicago Bulls had a four game winning streak coming into Tuesday nights game against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets used a big send half to pull away from the Bulls for an easy 18 point victory 125-107.
It was a very even 1sy quarter that saw seven lead changes and four ties between the teams. The Bulls never had more than a three point lead while the Nuggets never had a lead bigger than two points in the quarter. The final tie of the quarter was at 20 all. The Bulls scored five of the final seven pints in the quarter to take a 25-22 lead after one quarter.
The 2nd quarter ended up being dead even as each team scored 34 points in the quarter, but early it looked like the Bulls would pull away. The Bulls biggest lead of the quarter was eight points which they did twice. The last time the Bulls had an eight point lead was with 6:56 left in the quarter and the score was 45-37.The Nuggets came all the way back to take the lead at 54-51 with 1:54 left in the quarter. Chicago finished the quarter on a 8 to 2 run to go into halftime with a 59-56 lead.
Chicago built an eight point lead two more times in the 3rd quarter. The last time was with 9:08 left in the quarter with the score 70-62. The Nuggets cut the Bulls lead down to one point at two different times during the quarter before finally taking the lead at 78-77 with 3:31 left in the quarter. After getting the lead the Nuggets just started building on it. They finished the quarter on a 13 to 6 run to take a 91-83 lead after three quarters.
The Nuggets just continued to build their lead at the start of the 4th quarter. Denver scored the first 8 points of the 4th quarter to take a 99-83 lead. Denver took there first 20 plus point lead of the game when Jamal Murray hit a 3-pointer with 7:24 left in the quarter to make the score 110-89. The closet the Bulls could get was 16 points at 123-107 before Denver hit the final basket of the game to pick up the 125-107 victory.
Danilo Gallinari was Denver’s and the games leading scorer with 22 points. Wilson Chandler added 20 points while Nikola Jokic went for a triple-double scoring 19 points grabbing a game high 16 rebounds and handing out a game high 10 assists. Gary Harris (15 points) and Jameer Nelson (12 points) also reached double figures as all of Denver’s starters hit double digits in points. Off the Nuggets bench Will Barton scored 15 points while Jamal Murray had 14 points.
The Bulls where led by Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo (off the bench) who each scored 19 points. Wade also led the team in assists with 6. Bobby Portis had 12 points while Robin Lopez added 10 points. Denzel Valentine led the Bulls in rebounds with 7.
Denver actually has=d to turn around and pay the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The Nuggets got a win over the Bucks 110-98. The wins makes the Nuggets 28-33 on the season. Denver will return home with there two game winning streak to face the Charlotte Hornets. The loss drops the Bulls back to .500 at 30-30. The Bulls are one of the feature games tonight as they play host to the 50-10 Golden State Warriors.
Sports Time Radio 