Chicago Bulls Blow Big Lead, Lose To Denver Nuggets 115-110

After a huge third quarter gave the Chicago Bulls a comfortable lead heading into the 4th quarter, everything fell apart as the Denver Nuggets stormed back and took the game 115-110.

Injury to Jimmy Butler mars first half

It was a solid start to the game for Denver as they came out shooting a cool 61% in the opening frame of the game. With the altitude as a factor, the Nuggets used this to their advantage and began to dominate the game on the glass. Without the likes of Pau Gasol, who was out with a left hand injury, and Joakim Noah, the Bulls struggled on the glass all night and it hurt in crucial situations down the stretch. At the end of the first quarter it was a 30-26 lead for Denver with Jimmy Butler scoring 10 for Chicago and Danilo Gallinari scoring 11 for Denver.

The second quarter saw Chicago come back and take the lead from Denver as the second unit along with Derrick Rose began to pick it up. Chicago was getting into a groove when disaster struck. Jimmy Butler went down the lane and was bumped on the way up and seemed to have fallen awkwardly on his left leg, the same leg that caused him to miss Chicago's win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. As he was getting carted off, Butler stopped and got up and made one of two free throws before finally going off on a cart. He was ruled out the game with a knee sprain. It was a huge loss for Chicago as Butler was currently leading the Bulls with 19 points before his injury. It was 57-55 Chicago at the half.

Chicago Bulls have great 3rd quarter and horrible 4th

Without Butler for the rest of the game, many would have thought that Chicago would have struggled on offense but that didn't turn out to be the case. Chicago scored 32 points in the 3rd quarter largely to the fact of Derrick Rose who seemed to take over on offense when Butler exited the game. It also didn't help that Denver went ice cold from the field in the 3rd quarter. Chicago began to pull away from Denver at the end of the third quarter as it was 89-73 Bulls.

But the 4th quarter was an absolute disaster for Chicago. Denver exploded with a 42 point quarter to better Chicago's 3rd quarter outburst as Will Barton and Emmanuel Mudiay fought to get Denver back in the game. Before the Bulls knew that hit them it was a 105-104 game with 2:56 left in the game after a Mudiay three cut the lead to one for Chicago. But Derrick Rose kept Chicago in the game as he continued to lead the Bulls and continue his great recent play. But Denver ended up taking the lead on a Gallinari shot from the wing with 51 seconds left in a game where it seemed all but over for the home team at the start of the quarter. Then Chicago couldn't convert in the dying seconds of the game and a Kenneth Faried putback on a missed free throw by Mudiay sealed the game as Denver walked away with a 115-110 win.

Top Performers

Derrick Rose played fantastic for the Bulls as he scored 30 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists for Chicago. Being the only healthy starter right now, expect more performances like this from the former MVP.

Danilo Gallinari was once again huge for Denver as he scored 33 points and had three rebounds for the Nuggets.