Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone wants his team to understand that they can’t afford to get complacent.
Monday’s game against the struggling Chicago Bulls offers Denver a chance to bounce back after their tough 133-104 loss to Minnesota on Saturday, the first game of their five-game road trip.
Malone described the Timberwolves’ effort as “a lot more physical, a lot more aggressive, a lot more urgent” than Denver’s.
“We kind of showed up like we were a team that was 12-3 in our last 15 games,” he said, “feeling good about ourselves.”
One way to improve is to get Nikola Jokic back to his usual level of play.
Jokic, a regular MVP contender, had an off game by his standards, finishing with 20 points and 11 assists. He only grabbed three rebounds, breaking a streak of five straight triple-doubles.
Jokic scored just seven points after the first quarter.
“We probably could have featured Jok a little bit more in this game,” said his teammate Aaron Gordon. “He came out torching. If he’s doing that, you’ve gotta just feed him.”
The Bulls have struggled, losing eight of their last 10 games, but they are exploring ways to turn things around.
The main focus is reducing turnovers. Chicago had 20 turnovers in their 109-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, with late mistakes preventing them from holding onto a lead they had entering the fourth quarter.
“Some of it to me is just careless; doing stuff that’s not there,” said Bulls coach Billy Donovan. “We get into the lane and then realize — (Saturday) was an example of it — we have a hard time finishing at the basket.
“Certainly you want to get there because it’s a high-percentage shot. But there are times where we’re getting there and there is such a collapsing of the defense and we are in the air. When you’re in the air, it’s really difficult to make plays from there.”
Zach LaVine has been on a hot streak, scoring at least 24 points in four straight games for Chicago. Josh Giddey has also had three straight double-doubles.
Coby White (ankle) has missed the last three games due to injury, and the rest of the team knows they need to step up.
“We have the talent, I feel like, the personnel,” said Lonzo Ball of the Bulls. “We’ve just got to put together 48 minutes. We haven’t done that much this year.”
Monday’s game will be the first matchup of the season between the Bulls and Nuggets, with a return game in Denver scheduled for March 24.
Denver is 7-3 in the last 10 games against Chicago, including two wins last season.
Nikola Vucevic is nearly averaging a double-double (20.1 points and 9.8 rebounds) in his last 10 games against Denver. LaVine has scored over 20 points in six of his last seven games against the Nuggets.
In the first Bulls-Nuggets game last season, Jokic had 28 points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists. In 15 career games against Chicago, he’s averaging 17.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists.
