On a night when the Bulls lit it up from beyond the arc, it still wasn’t enough to overcome the brilliance of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Chicago knocked down 20 threes, but Denver’s poise, paint dominance, and the quiet control of their MVP big man ultimately tipped the scales in a high-scoring, fast-paced battle.
Let’s start with the Bulls. This is a team still finding its identity, but one thing is already clear: they can shoot.
Anfernee Simons was in his bag early, launching from deep with confidence and connecting from just about every zip code. His first-half performance was electric, giving Chicago a much-needed offensive punch and helping them take a 65-59 lead into the break.
Simons finished with 13 points in the first half, including a four-point play that had the United Center buzzing.
But it wasn’t just Simons. The Bulls had multiple contributors step up.
Matas Buzelis, the rookie forward who continues to turn heads, led the team in points, rebounds, and assists for much of the night. He ended with 21 points and 8 boards, showing off a versatile skillset that’s becoming more and more central to how this team plays-especially with Josh Giddey and Tre Jones sidelined.
Buzelis looks increasingly comfortable as a do-it-all forward, and his production is starting to reflect that.
Simons eventually took over the playmaking duties, finishing with a team-high six assists. But the Bulls’ offense wasn’t just about individual stats-it was about movement, spacing, and the willingness to make the extra pass.
Credit to Billy Donovan for that. With a roster full of new faces, the Bulls are clearly buying into his message of unselfish basketball.
Still, for all their hot shooting, the Bulls couldn’t slow down Denver when it mattered most. The Nuggets came into the game with the league’s best offensive rating, and they wasted no time showing why.
They shot 60.9% in the first quarter alone, and even when Chicago pushed back, Denver never looked rattled. That’s the mark of a championship-caliber team.
Jamal Murray was the tone-setter in the second half, exploding for 15 points in the third quarter to keep Denver afloat while their defense tried to catch up. And then there was Jokic-calm, deliberate, surgical.
He posted a triple-double with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 16 assists, and somehow did it while only taking 10 shots. That’s the Jokic effect: he doesn’t need to dominate the box score in traditional ways to completely control a game.
His passing was on another level, as he and Murray combined for 27 assists-more than some teams put up in a full game.
Chicago’s smaller lineup struggled to contain Denver in the paint, where the Nuggets outscored them 60-36. That disparity was arguably the deciding factor.
The Bulls’ stretch-five experiment with Guerschon Yabusele was bold-he hoisted 10 threes as the starting center-but it left them vulnerable inside. Yabusele didn’t back down from Jokic, and he deserves credit for battling, but Denver’s size and interior execution proved too much.
One name to keep an eye on: Nick Richards. The Bulls big man came off the bench and made his presence felt with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and a block.
He even knocked down the second three-pointer of his career and went 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Richards brought a physicality that Chicago lacked in the starting unit, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get a longer look with the first group moving forward.
Rob Dillingham also flashed some serious potential. His numbers-9 points and 4 assists in 21 minutes-don’t jump off the page, but the rookie guard’s speed and shiftiness gave the Nuggets fits at times.
He’s got that burst Chicago has been missing at the point, and when he plays under control, he can break down defenses and create for others. There’s a spark there that could become something special with time and reps.
Collin Sexton added 17 points and was second only to Simons in field goal attempts. With so many score-first guards on this roster, how the Bulls manage shot distribution will be worth watching. But for now, the offense looks fluid and unselfish, even if the results aren’t always there.
Bottom line: the Bulls are fun. They’re fast, they’re fearless, and they’re firing from deep with confidence.
But fun only goes so far in the NBA. Over the final stretch of the season, the question becomes whether they can translate that excitement into consistent, competitive basketball-especially against elite teams like Denver.
Saturday night showed they’re not there yet. But it also showed they’re not far off.