In a Monday night surprise, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Denver Nuggets 130-127 as a 12.5 point underdog. With the win, the Bulls became the biggest underdog of the season to get a victory. The previous high was the Indiana Pacers, who beat the Golden State Warriors 114-109 as an 11.5 point underdog on November 1.
The Bulls are a team that cannot be taken for granted. They were co-led in scoring by their Australian star point guard Josh Giddey. The Melbourne native had an impressive double-double on Monday night as he had 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Giddey was one of two Bulls players with 21 points. The other was shooting guard Ayo Dosunmu of Chicago, Illinois, who scored his 21 off the bench. You could make the argument that Dosunmu was significantly better throughout the game than Giddey. That is because Dosunmu was a +25, while Giddey was a -17.
In a remarkable statistic, it was the bench that was the reason why the Bulls stunned the Nuggets. All six Bulls players on the bench were a plus, as they were a combined +90, while all Bulls starters were double digit minus players as they were a combined -75.
Four other Bulls reached double digits in points. Center Jalen Smith of Portsmouth, Virginia had 16 points, point guard Jevon Carter of Maywood, Illinois had 15 points, and forward Matas Buzelis of Chicago, Illinois had 13 points.
With the win, the Bulls are at seven wins and six losses. The win snapped a five game losing streak for Chicago. The fifth loss during the streak came on Sunday, as they were beaten 150-147 by the Utah Jazz in overtime. The fact that the Bulls regrouped on the second game of a back-to-back after struggling mightily defensively over the weekend was impressive indeed.
