BY: JASON MUSNI — SPORTS ON AIR — CORRESPONDENT
CHICAGO — Seven games into the 2023-24 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls still can’t find their footing.
Shooting just 39 of 86 from the field and missing 19 of their 26 three-point attempts, the visiting Bulls were blown out of the Ball Arena by the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night, 123-101.
Four Nuggets finished with double figures in points led by a near triple-double by Nikola Jokic who dropped 28 points, 16 rebounds and 9 assists. Michael Porter Jr. accounted for 27 points while Aaron Gordon chipped in 15.
After trailing 51-53 at halftime, Denver turned the jets on in a fiery third quarter where they seized a 75-59 lead. The Nuggets never looked back after that.
“Nobody wants to lose the way we have been losing this early. It’s always been easy to let go of the rope when things aren’t going your way. But for the most part you just have to stay calm,” a frustrated Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan told Bulls.com after losing three in a row.
Nikola Vucevic paced the Bulls with 19 points and 7 boards. He held his own in a match-up against Jokic before the wheels fell off midway through the third quarter.
“No matter how much you know his tendencies, he kind of has counters to everything. And the tricky part is he gets his passing involved. Definitely one of the hardest guys to defend and figure out,” Vucevic said of Jokic, the three-time league MVP and this year’s NBA Finals MVP.
DeRozan had 17 markers for Chicago but Zach Lavine was held to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting as Chicago dropped to 2-5.
