The Chicago Bulls on Monday night put an end to their five-game losing skid in dramatic fashion.
The Bulls withstood a 36-point Nikola Jokic triple-double to defeat the Nuggets, 130-127 -- and inflict on Denver its first home loss of the 2025/26 season.
After surprising many observers with a perfect 5-0 start, the Bulls came back to earth by suffering six losses over the next seven games. That stretch included a 150-147 double-overtime defeat to the Utah Jazz on Sunday, a high-scoring heartbreaker in which Jazz star Lauri Markkanen dropped 47 points on his former team.
Bulls' bench mob went off
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan kept his players and ready locked in for the difficult challenge of beating the Nuggets in Denver -- and he was rewarded at Ball Arena with a sensational performance from his bench mob.
The Bulls' reserves outscored the Nuggets' reserves 66-9 on Monday, a 57-point disparity that turned the game in Chicago's favor. Ayo Dosunmu led the way with 21 points on 8-of-9 sooting, while Jalen Smith (16 points) and Jevon Carter (15) combined for 31.
SHOUT OUT TO THE BENCH.
Ayo Dosunmu: 21 pts (8-9 FG)
Jalen Smith: 16 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl
Jevon Carter: 15 pts
Patrick Williams: 7 pts
Dalen Terry: 5 pts
Julian Phillips: 2 pts, 1 stl, 1 blk
Outscored Denver 66-9 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pXBnkMyhkQ
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 18, 2025
Chicago ranks second in the NBA in bench scoring this season, with an average of 48.1 points per game coming from Donovan's substitutes. It's a big improvement from 2024/25, when the Bulls ranked 14th in bench scoring while posting a 39-43 record.
Thanks in part to those unheralded but vital contributions, Chicago is on a 44-win pace that would mark its best season since 2021/22 -- and a victory over the Nuggets, widely considered an NBA championship contender, offered a glimpse into the Bulls' potential.
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