The Bulls led by five at the half, but the turnovers and poor shooting started to pile up during tumultuous third. The Nuggets took full advantage, outscoring their hosts 26-17 in that frame to take a four-point lead. During the quarter break, the Bulls remembered who they were and looked a lot more like a winning team from then on, making key shots and forcing Denver mistakes with tight defense. That meant a 31-18 fourth and the only thing fans at the United Center were bummed about was that the Bulls didn't attempt one more shot to get to 100 and give them free Big Macs.
Whether Nikola Mirtoic would have made it less of a nailbiter will never be known. He got hit in the face during the first quarter and left the game without returning. The culprit was a concussion and facial laceration. While he wasn't needed to help finish off Denver, he'll need to pass league-mandated concussion tests before playing any future games, so he's out indefinitely.
Pau Gasol made his first six shots en route to leading all scorers and rebounders with 24 and 16 in 36 minutes. He even threw in four blocks for good measure. My dad said during the game all the basketball Gasol played for Spain in the European Championship this past summer, plus the long NBA season, is going to make him flame out. He's going to slow down significantly sooner than later, but that hasn't happened yet, so I'm going to enjoy whatever goodness he has left.
Jimmy Butler was just 5-of-16 from the field, but worked his tail off to scored 19 and make up for the Bulls' shortcomings, especially when the offense went stagnant for much of the second half. It helped that he made all eight of his free throws. It was very tough to watch Derrick Rose drive to the basket frequently and still shoot 3-of-17 from the field. But he still scored 11, dished out a season-high nine assists and said after the game his vision is getting better.
Joakim Noah earned more playing time with Mirotic suddenly unavailable and made the most of it. On a night when he totaled nine points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, his offense was better and he played with an intensity Doug McDermott continued to show off his driving skills to earn 11 points. Taj Gibson finished one field goal shy of a double-double with eight and 10.
Don't be fooled by this final. Like so many times this year, this was very frustrating to watch at times. We've gotten so used to these performances from the Bulls, we expect the worst to happen. When Denver took the lead, there was reason to believe another collapse would fully come to pass. While the Bulls are 11-5, it may be the most bloated record in the league.
But we also know of the talent that can be unleashed and in this game, it rescued them in the nick of time. They cleaned up the glass, took advantage of second chances and found open looks for each other. If they can just execute better in all aspects, they'll truly belong among the elite of the East. There have been a lot of doubts about that lately, so it's up to them to dispel those.
Game three of this four-game homestand will take place Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets. When these teams met at the same location on Nov. 13, it went much better for the Bulls than when they first met in North Carolina. That should have been a sign the Bulls aren't going to relax like that against this particular team again. If they could do that with all other inferior teams, they'd really be in business.
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