Nuggets erase 16 point fourth quarter deficit to down Bulls

In a roller coaster of a game, the Denver Nuggets found themselves against the ropes and fought back to win against the Chicago Bulls 115-110.

THE RUNDOWN

First Quarter – Starters: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic

It was the Gallo vs. Jimmy Butler show as neither teams had an answer for either player. The two scored a quarter-high 11 and 10 points, respectively, also making plays all over the court, setting up their teammates and playing great defense.

Fortunately for Denver, Mudiay built on his solid season so far scoring seven first quarter points on 3-4 shooting. The key to Mudiay’s success has always lied in learning how to use his strength finishing with contact. Fans should be encouraged by how quickly he seems to be learning such a subtle part of the game:

End of first: Nuggets up 30-26.

Second Quarter – Starters: Randy Foye, Sean Kilpatrick, Will Barton, Darrell Arthur, Joffrey Lauvergne

The second quarter was a devastating one for not only Bulls fans, but basketball fans in general. Stopping short what looked to be a fantastic duel between him and Gallinari, Butler fell on the ground awkwardly on a drive and had to be escorted off in a wheelchair. Here’s another look at the play that caused the injury:

Noteworthy is that Butler got up from his wheelchair and gritted out some free throws at the line before exiting the game. Pretty inspiring stuff from the Bulls star as he didn’t even have the ability to bend his knees on the two shots.

On a brighter note, Barton was putting on a show as he gave fans a reason to get excited for his entry in the Slam Dunk Contest:

End of second: Bulls up 57-55.

Third Quarter – Starters: Mudiay, Harris, Gallinari, Faried, Jokic

This quarter was one of those “pull your hair out because the Nuggets can’t do anything right” stretches that we sometimes see from the team. Denver struggled moving the ball and Nurkic of all people seemed to be dropping every pass that came his way. This has been a common trend recently and was pretty concerning considering his patellar tendon injury had nothing to do with his hands.

Although having a great rookie campaign, Jokic struggled tonight by constantly getting into foul trouble. The effects really showed in the third quarter as the offense seemed to stall and looked nowhere as polished as it has been recently and that’s a testament to just how important Jokic’s contributions outside of the box score are.

End of third: Bulls up 89-73.

Fourth Quarter – Starters: Foye, Kilpatrick, Barton, Arthur, Lauvergne

During the game there were some score-keeping issues where the officials quite literally had no idea what the correct score was. According to Altitude commentator Scott Hastings, the officials were about to give Chicago 100 when Malone told them that they actually had 102 in a class act move. He was soon karmatically rewarded.

Instead of lying down and accepting defeat, the Nuggets rallied back and gave the Pepsi Center crowd the show they all wanted (well, except for the countless Bulls fans in the arena). Customary of a Michael Malone team, the squad never quit and fought hard to mount a miraculous comeback.

Jokic was finally unleashed in the fourth after suffering from foul trouble throughout the game. He instantly made an impact as the offense moved beautifully and he changed the momentum of the game with a pair of HUGE back to back threes.

Gallinari was carrying the team from the free throw line, hitting a season high 18-18 from the charity stripe. Barton was making Thrilling plays as he electrified the crowd with his flare. Mudiay was aggressively driving to the rim as we’ve all been clamoring for him to do, and making big play after big play in crunch time.  It was a beautiful thing to watch.

Final: Nuggets win 115-110.

WHERE/WHEN

Pepsi Center, Denver, CO | Feb. 5th | Regular Season Game 51 (20-31)

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME

It couldn’t be any quarter but the fourth as the Nuggets found themselves down 18 with just a minute left in the third before completely turning the game around. Denver shot a blistering 71.4 percent from the field to put up an eye-popping 42 points in the quarter all while holding the Bulls to just 21 points on 39.1 percent.

Just an all-around great effort from the Nuggets, one that should make fans extremely proud. This is a team worth rooting for.

Great defense from Jokic:

Big shots from Barton:

Manimal BEASTING:

BY THE NUMBERS

Phenomenal game from Gallinari as he poured in a game-high 33 points on 7-12 shooting. He made an absolute living at the line and it helped bail out an offense that stalled at times.

A surprising double-double for Jokic as he only played 25 minutes due to foul trouble, dropping 14 points and 12 assists before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Mudiay continued his good play as he aggressively looked for his shot tonight, evident by the team-high 18 attempts for the rookie. He scored 22 points and showed maturity and poise closing out the game in crunch time.

PLAYS OF THE GAME

Gallinari with a great bailout shot :

Mudiay with a big fade away to beat the shot-clock:

Mudiay with a HUGE three in crunch time:

Mudiay aggressively driving to the rim for the clutch and-1:

WHAT’S NEXT

The Nuggets will look to build off a great win as they head on over to New York to play against their old friends Carmelo Anthony and Arron Afflalo. Tip-off is early on Sunday at 11:00 AM.