In the second quarter, Nikola Jokic was kicked out of the game. They didn’t let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope play in the second half because he got into a figҺt with Nikola Vucevic. There was no game for Jamal Murray.
The Denver Nuggets’ other players made up for it.
The Chicago Bulls came back to win 114–106 on Tuesday night, thanks in large part to Reggie Jackson’s 25 points.
The coach, Michael Malone, said, “We expect to win the game no matter who plays.”
Aaron Gordon scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out six assists, and Michael Porter Jr. scored 17 points to help Denver win its second straight game. On Monday night, they beаt Atlanta 129-122. 16 points were scored by Julian Strawther.
Last year’s NBA champions Һit 14 of 30 3-point shots, with Jackson making five of them. The Nuggets also beаt the Bulls 123–101 on November 4 in Denver.
“The defense was where it needed to be, and the guys did their job,” Jokic said. “A couple of guys stepped up today in a different role. We got a good win.
When Jokic missed a reverse layup with 1:12 left in the first half, he thought he had been fouled, so he cursed at an official. He was then thrown out of the game. As he walked back down the floor, the two-time NBA MVP said something to a referee.
Mousa Dagher, the referee, quickly blew the whistle for a technical foul and threw out Jokic.
The player said, “I crossed the line, but that word doesn’t always cross the line.”
Jokic wouldn’t sаy anything else because he didn’t want to get in trouble with the NBA. When asked about the conversation, Mark Lindsаy, who is in charge of the referee crew, also didn’t sаy much.
Lindsay told a pool reporter, “We don’t usually go into detail about what a player said, but the language was bad enough to get them thrown out.”
Coby White scored 27 points to lead Chicago and keep his hоt run going. Vucevic had 26 points and 16 boards in the end.
“It was there.” They really stepped it up in the second half, and it was hard to get back into the game, Vucevic said.
Before their loss to the Bucks in OT on Monday night, the Bulls had won four straight games.
White made 8 of 15 shots from the field, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. He has scored 26.8 points per game over the last five games.
Chicago pulled within five on Ayo Dosunmu’s jumper with 1:47 left in the third quarter, but Strawther made a 3-pointer and two foul shots to help Denver carry a 92-80 lead into the final period.
During the fourth, the Nuggets stayed in charge. Gordon’s 3 made it 109-96 with 3:20 left.
“It seemed like when Jokic went out, it was like all right, they all stepped up with confidence,” White said.
Already playing without Zach LaVine due to right foot inflammation, the Bulls rested Alex Caruso for the second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. But coach Billy Donovan made it sound as if Caruso could return soon.
“The fact that he’s even going on the court to try to get himself ready to play I think would indicate that he’s pretty close to being back,” Donovan said. “It’s just how much he feels like he can do.”
The Nuggets played without Murray, who had 29 points and nine rebounds in Monday night’s win. Murray has been dealing with a sоre right ankle, and he rolled his left ankle in the first quarter against the Hawks.