Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Nuggets folded late in Chicago

The Nuggets were slain by the Bulls on tour because of their inability to defend the three-point line and could barely hit any treys of their own.

After the game, coach Michael Malone blasted his team, saying. “Once again, it was us just messing with the game, thinking we can just show up and score at will… our inability or unwillingness to guard one-on-one and our inability or unwilling to rebound the basketball when they did miss, the few times they missed, was on full display.”

The offense was beaming early as five Nuggets made multiple field goals, including Nikola Jokić and Christian Braun combining for 10 of 10 in the first quarter. On top of that, the crew punched in 28 points in the lane, courtesy of fastbreaks off turnovers plus screen rolls.

Their biggest issue was failing to stop Nikola Vucevic from adding 11 points from close, mid and long range. Additionally, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis made four of five shots.

The second quarter started with the visitors up 35-32. Next, Murray scored three times inside and made a triple, and Jokić produced on the break twice, nailed a floater on a pick-and-roll set and logged a putback. The rest of the team registered 37.5% of attempts, and the defense started to fold, allowing seven of 14 3-pointers.

At halftime, the Nuggets were up 68-61. They led in three key areas: paint points 50-14, fastbreak points 20-0 and points off turnovers 18-3. The Bulls slightly led in second-chance points 8-6.

Then Jokić punched in his fifth dunk of the game on a feed from Murray, Westbrook scored on the catch and dribble and Michael Porter Jr. supplied eight points. But the Bulls went on a stampede after the Nuggets were ahead by 10, closing the third quarter on an 18-7 run. Most of the damage was done by Ayo Dosunmu hitting two quick 3-pointers, and the Nuggets went down a point heading into the next frame

The Nuggets followed up by missing their first seven attempts, and Jokić had to end his break early and check in with over nine minutes left. Multiple shots by Murray and three straight up close from Braun gave the team a spark, but the Bulls traded three 3-pointers late to put down the Nuggets.

The Nuggets lost 129-121. They outscored the Bulls in the paint by 46, on the break by 15 and off turnovers by five, but it wasn’t enough. The hosts connected on 18 extra 3-pointers.

Malone said, “We have to be better as we move forward.”

Takeaways: 

• Jokić made his first 10 shots and finished with 33 points on 15 of 21 attempts, with 12 rebounds and 14 assists . He recorded his 21st triple-double of the season.

• The Nuggets’ attack spent 74.6% of its time in the half-court. They logged 94.3 points per 100 plays, good enough for the 42 percentile of all games played this season, per Cleaning the Glass.

• Murray had a strong first half and despite hitting two late shots, got weaker as the game went on.

• Braun was the team’s second-best player, logging a career-high 28 points. His previous best was 25 points, set on Nov. 17, 2023, in a loss in New Orleans. He was a threat on the break and did well putting the ball on the floor in the half-court.

• A season-high of 84 points in the lane went to waste.

• Malone said he went to the shorter eight-man rotation to try Aaron Gordon at backup center. He was also displeased with the bench, saying they “didn’t have much productivity… that group’s gotta give us a spark, some energy, some juice.”

• Gordon only played 22 minutes, showing some flashes of bully ball, but he was inefficient, making three of nine shots, and his defense was sub-standard. In particular, he let Patrick Williams blow by him for a floater and got dropped by Buzelis before he dunked.