Nuggets return the favor to top short-handed Bulls |
DENVER - It is hard enough to knock off the defending champs once, even if it is just the preseason, let alone two times. Well, that is what the Chicago Bulls were up against on Sunday as they faced off with the Denver Nuggets for the second time in as many games, with this one coming in Denver.
If that wasn't hard enough, try doing it without arguably your five best players, as Demar DeRozan, Zach Lavine, and Nikola Vucevic were all given the night off while Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball were out with injuries. Caruso should be back by the time the regular season starts, but with five guys out and playing shorthanded, everyone knew this was going to be an uphill battle for the Bulls, and it was. Despite the Bulls best efforts to hang around, and credit to them, they did battle you never had the sense that they were going to win this game as the Nuggets outscored them in all four quarters. Granted, they were outscored by single digits every time, but that does add up in the end, as the Nuggets erased their Double OT loss against the Bulls on Thursday and responded with the 116-102 win on Sunday. The biggest takeaway from this game was the play of Patrick Williams as he put on a show. After returning to what people like to call the Passive Pat in his last game, Williams returned to the aggressive nature he wants to show this season and led the Bulls with 20 points on 8-14 shooting. As lovely as it was for him to have a performance like this, it would be nice to see him do that with both DeRozan and Lavine on the floor, but for whatever reason, he isn't as aggressive as he needs to be if he isn't one of the top options. Along with Williams, you had Coby White putting on another clinic as his dominating preseason continued. After signing Jevon Carter this offseason, many expected a PG competition that would come down to the final preseason game. Well, here we are three games in, and not only has White started every game at the PG spot, but he has looked every bit of a starting PG, as it is his job to lose at this point. White has always shown flashes of being a legitimate starting player in this league, but never had the consistency or was always stuck behind someone better at one of the two spots he plays. Following another 20-point showing, not only has White proven he will be more consistent scoring the basketball this season, but he is proving to the Bulls front office that they may be the right choice to keep him around long-term. While those two combined for 40 points, they were also the only ones with more than 13 points, as you knew the offense would be a struggle with the Bulls big three out. Andre Drummond started in place of Vucevic and put together a nine-point, 10-rebound showing, while Torrey Craig and Ayo Dosunmu combined for 14 points and eight assists in place of DeRozan and Lavine. Considering what those combine for on a given night, that isn't great production, although the 12 points from Dosunmu was a pleasant surprise. When it comes to the Bull's second unit, there was plenty of scoring to go around, but no one had one of those performances to change the game. Carter had the hot hand off the bench as he knocked down three of the team's 12 triples to come away with nine points. You also had seven points from Adama Sonogo as he continues to make his case for an opening-night roster spot, while Onuralp Bitim and Terry Taylor added six and five points, respectively, in the loss. For the Nuggets, they not only throughout their starting lineup, but it was a starting lineup that continues to show how scary they can be as this team should be one of the favorites in the West again. Unlike the last game when Nikola Jokic led the way, it was Jamal Murray coming up huge in this one as he led all starters with 21 points. His resurgence last season was something this team was missing and is one of the main reasons why the Nuggets won it all last year. Of course, the main reason is having a guy like Jokic be virtually unguardable as he continues to do it all on the court. Granted, 15 points isn't a typical offensive performance from him, but this is the preseason, and he is only here to get his work in. He still added nine boards and five assists to his line, as he already looks close to midseason form. Aaron Gordon also had 13 points to match the Bulls with three double-digit scorers, but the difference in the game came from the bench where the Nuggets struck gold. A big reason for that was the play of Julian Strawther, who not only connected for four triples off the bench but erupted for a game-high 23 points to give the Nuggets some huge insurance from their second unit. He teamed up with Hunter Tyson, who added three triples of his own with 13 points as those two combined for 36 points off the bench to nearly outscore the entire Bulls bench, who finished with 39. Had it not been for the play of those two, the Bulls would have been in a position to win this game, but without the Big Three in action, you have to at least like the overall performance this team put forth.
