Nuggets blast Bulls to get back on winning track

The Nuggets were playing on All-Pro mode Tuesday against the Warriors. Two nights later against the Chicago Bulls, the difficulty level got switched down to rookie. Chicago, which rolled into the Mile High City tied for the second-worst record in the league, was chum for a Nuggets team looking to get back on track after enduring a shellacking against the back-to-back defending champs.

Denver cruised past Chicago 135-105. Nikola Jokic (18 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists) finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double. Jamal Murray caught fire with 22 third-quarter points en route to a team-high 25. And Paul Millsap slammed home a nasty putback dunk on his way to 14 points.

Gary Harris returned from a five-game absence and came off the bench. He looked good in his first game since Jan. 7. He hit 6 of 11 shots including 2 of 3 3s. He wound up with 14.

The Nuggets outscored the Bulls 42-26 in the third quarter. They hit 20 3-pointers as a team. Murray was responsible for seven of those makes from deep. His 3-point percentage has climbed considerably in the last month and a half after a cold start to the season.

The Nuggets improved to 30-14 on the season. They didn’t win their 30th game last season until Feb. 10.

Denver faces another Cleveland, another Eastern Conference cellar dweller, Saturday before taking on Utah on Wednesday.