Gasol leads Bulls to comeback victory

[December 03, 2015]  CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bulls were not at their best Wednesday, but center Pau Gasol made sure they were good enough to get past the struggling Denver Nuggets.

Gasol had a game-high 26 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 99-90 comeback victory over the Nuggets at the United Center.

With the Bulls (11-5) trailing 72-68 after three quarters, Gasol emerged down the stretch. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the final quarter. He had six points in a 12-2 run that turned a two-point deficit into an eight-point advantage at 89-81.

Gasol had concerns before the game. The Bulls were coming off a big win over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, and the Nuggets arrived to Chicago on a seven-game losing streak.
 

"This is the type of game you play against a team that has lost seven in a row," Gasol said. "You think you're probably going to win the game, and it's not going to require your maximum effort. Sometimes you do fall into that trap. For parts of the game, we were into that trap, but we snapped out of it with enough time on the clock to make a run and win the game."

The Bulls continue to be one of the league's best home teams. They won their fourth consecutive home game and improved to 7-1 at the United Center this season. The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only other team in the Eastern Conference with just one home loss.

On the other hand, the loss continued the Nuggets' woes. Denver (6-13) dropped its eighth consecutive game. The Nuggets own the NBA's longest current losing streak after the Los Angeles Lakers snapped their seven-game skid with a win on Wednesday.

Despite the loss, Nuggets coach Michael Malone took positives from the game.

"We did a lot of good things," Malone said. "We took care of the basketball, which is something we have talked about. We did a better job defensively when you look at their low field-goal percentage. However, we gave up 30 points on offensive boards to them."

The Nuggets played their best in the third quarter. Forward Darrell Arthur led the charge as he scored eight points in an 8-3 run to put the Nuggets ahead 70-68. Denver led 72-68 heading into the fourth quarter.

"We played better today, but we still didn't get the win," Nuggets guard Randy Foye said. "That's what is hurting now. We're killing ourselves. It's not nothing what the other teams are doing, they make certain shots and they're doing some things but we're shooting ourselves in the foot a lot of times."

Gasol did nearly all of his damage in the first and fourth quarters. He sparked the Bulls by doing a bit of everything in the opening quarter. He hit his first six shots and finished the quarter with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also contributed five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Behind that effort, the Bulls built a 28-21 advantage after one quarter.

"Whoever's got the hot hand, that's who we're going to," said Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who had 12 points and nine assists. "Pau had the hot hand tonight."

Bulls guard Jimmy Butler scored 19 points. Off the bench, center Joakim Noah had nine points and 11 rebounds, and forward Doug McDermott had 11 points for the Bulls.

Forward Will Barton scored a team-high 16 points for the Nuggets. Forward Kenneth Faried (14 points, nine rebounds), Arthur (13 points), forward Danilo Gallinari (13 points) and center Joffrey Lauvergne (11 points, seven rebounds) contributed for Denver.

Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic suffered a concussion and a facial laceration that required stitches after he took an accidental elbow to the face while defending a layup in the first quarter. He left the game with 7:21 left in the first quarter and did not return.

NOTES: Bulls G Kirk Hinrich (hip) was ruled out before Wednesday's game after previously being considered doubtful. He suffered the injury on Nov. 27. ... Bulls G Aaron Brooks was active after being a game-time decision because of a left hamstring injury. He missed the previous four games. ... F Wilson Chandler (hip) and F Jusuf Nurkic (knee) were inactive for the Nuggets. ... Nuggets coach Michael Malone started the combination of G Emmanuel Mudiay, G Randy Foye, F Danilo Gallinari, F Kenneth Faried and C Nikola Jokic for the second time this season.

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.