Denver, November 18, 2025** – Last night’s game at Ball Arena ended with a score of 130-127 in favor of the Chicago Bulls, ending the Denver Nuggets’ 7-game winning streak and handing them their first home loss of the 2025-26 season. Despite Nikola Jokić continuing his MVP-caliber performance with a triple-double of 36 points – 18 rebounds – 13 assists, the Nuggets were still unable to protect their late-game lead and allowed their theoretically weaker opponent to successfully come back.

The biggest difference was the contribution from the bench: the Bulls scored a season-high 66 bench points thanks to the explosive performances of Ayo Dosunmu (21 points), Josh Giddey (21 points, 14 rebounds) and other shooters, while the Nuggets only had 9 points from their bench – a 15-year record for the Colorado team. This is not a new problem: for many seasons, the Nuggets have often fallen into a “Jokić against the world” situation when their satellites cannot maintain a consistent performance.

Christian Braun – one of the team’s best perimeter defenders – had to leave the court early and is expected to miss at least 6 weeks with an ankle injury. This absence further exposed the gap on the defensive side, especially when the Bulls constantly exploited pick-and-rolls and quick transitions to score easy points. Jamal Murray scored 34 points but still had a decisive turnover in the last 30 seconds, and the bench with Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther or Tim Hardaway Jr. was almost harmless against the pressure of the Chicago “bench mob”.

Coach David Adelman admitted after the game:
“We were up 18 points in the third quarter, but we couldn’t maintain the intensity. Their bench played excellently, and we couldn’t respond well enough.”

This is the third time in the last four seasons that the Nuggets have lost to a team on a long losing streak (the Bulls have just gone through five straight losses). This result raises a big question about the depth of the squad – something that the Nuggets leadership confidently declared had been significantly improved in the summer transfer window of 2025. With Jokić having to shoulder almost all of the offensive and organizational power, will Denver be able to truly compete with the OKC Thunder, Boston Celtics or Minnesota Timberwolves – teams with deeper and more diverse rotations?

This defeat is not a disaster, but it is an early wake-up call. With a dense upcoming schedule and the risk of injury still lurking, the Nuggets need to quickly find a solution for the bench if they do not want to repeat the scenario of “super Jokić – mediocre team” like previous years.

Denver Nuggets (10-3) will have their next match on November 20 against the Memphis Grizzlies. Will they be able to fix it before the crack becomes an abyss? Time will tell.