The Denver Nuggets blasted the Chicago Bulls 135-102 on Wednesday. Denver led by 29 points at halftime and coasted to its first road win of a seven-game swing away from Pepsi Center. Here are five observations from the game.
1. Paul Millsap’s early flurry
Nuggets coach Michael Malone has tweaked his rotation in the last four games. Around the six-minute mark in the first quarter, Malone subs out Nikola Jokic. The idea is to get Jokic back in the game later in the first quarter to prop up Denver’s bench units. It’s worked with mixed results. Denver has struggled to score without its Serbian big man on the floor, but that wasn’t the case against Chicago thanks to Paul Millsap.
Millsap scored 11 points in a two-minute, 13-second span in the first quarter, all of which came with Jokic on the bench.
Millsap finished with 22 points, his highest scoring output since returning from a wrist injury Feb. 27. He went 8-9 from the field, corralled eight rebounds and grabbed five steals.
2. Nuggets bury a bad team
Even when healthy, the Bulls are one of the worst teams in basketball. On Wednesday, they were missing Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn — their three leading scorers — and went with a group that looked like a G League team. Cameron Payne started at point guard. Cristiano Felicio started at center. Someone named Antonio Blakeney earned rotation minutes.
The Nuggets desperately needed to take care of business against a bad team and did. Denver led by 14 points after one quarter and 31 at halftime. It got up by as many as 46 points.
Denver didn’t mess around in its easiest game of the seven-game road trip, putting together a solid effort after falling in Memphis and Miami.
3. Nikola Jokic in video game mode
The game looks so easy for Jokic when he’s rolling. Watching Jokic when he’s in rhythm is almost like witnessing the Asian gentleman swish basketball after basketball at the Pop-A-Shot machine. It’s effortless.
Jokic made his first seven shots of the game. He wound up scoring 21 points on 11 shots. Bobby Portis never stood a chance.
Afterward, Jokic signed autographs and took selfies with the sizable Serbian contingent at the United Center.
4. Devin Harris catching on the run
Devin Harris has a bunch of tricks in his bag after nearly 14 NBA seasons. The veteran guard does an excellent job of drawing contact and getting to the free throw line. That was on display in the second quarter when Harris caught a pass on the move, got bumped and finished the layup.
Harris, who went 8-8 at the free throw line in Miami, is coming around after a slow start in Denver. He’s scored in double-figures in each of his last four games. He’s done a nice job in Denver’s second unit lately.
5. Starters get a break after double-OT game
One benefit of taking care of a bad team early: Your starters get to rest. Jokic logged 24 minutes after being on the floor for 47 minutes in the double-overtime loss to the Heat. Millsap played 27 minutes after earning 45 minutes in Miami. Both guys got to relax in the fourth quarter with the game already decided.
The game was so lopsided, Malik Beasley played point guard in the fourth quarter. Richard Jefferson and Darrell Arthur got some burn. The only Denver player who didn’t get into the game was Kenneth Faried, who received his 20th straight DNP-CD.
The Nuggets moved to 1-2 on the road trip with the win. They only have 10 games remaining in their season, all of which are against teams in playoff position.
