Bulls got carried by Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine vs. Nuggets

A huge win that proved a lot for second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls arrived at home at the United Center on the night of Dec. 6. Donovan and the Bulls topped the reigning MVP and superstar big man Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets at home to win their fourth game in a row on Dec. 6.

Thanks to the efforts of point guard Lonzo Ball and star shooting guard Zach LaVine, the Bulls were able to make a big second-half rally to top the Nuggets on Dec. 6 by the final score of 109-97. This was the fourth straight win for the Bulls, and the second straight over the Nuggets to sweep the season series.

The Bulls were down in this game heading into the locker room at halftime. But they topped the Nuggets by a margin of 15 points in the final 24 to come out with the win by a dozen points in the end.

This was a very trying win for the Bulls to nab all things considered. The Bulls saw the likes of point guard Alex Caruso and star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan announced as out just hours before tip-off of this matchup against the Nuggets.

Missing Caruso and DeRozan is no small hurdle for the Bulls. Those are two of the most valuable players to this Bulls’ team through the early phase of the regular season.

Yet, that didn’t phase the Bulls when it came down to it. The Bulls saw this rally in the second half get sparked by the guard duo of Lonzo and LaVine. These were two of the best players in this game for the Bulls.

Chicago Bulls see Lonzo Ball and Zach LaVine spin a gem in a Dec. 6 win over the Nuggets

LaVine was the true scoring spark for the Bulls in this game. He really caught fire in the third quarter, which led to him posting a game-high 32 points. LaVine registered his 32 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

He also registered three rebounds, tied a team-high with eight assists, one steal, and three turnovers. This game proves the immense offensive impact that LaVine can still have for the Bulls when star center Nikola Vucevic isn’t performing to the best of his ability and DeRozan is out of the lineup.

What was maybe the most impressive part of LaVine’s offensive performance was how well he moved the ball. LaVine’s assist percentage hung around 40 in this game, which is good for a season-high for him. If he’s able to facilitate the offense like this moving forward in the midst of DeRozan’s absence, this is a great sign for the Bulls.

LaVine put on a show just like many people knew he could do if the game slowed down around him and he saw the court better before taking tough shots from the field all the time. He deserves a ton of props for his all-around performance in this game.

Moreover, the Bulls also couldn’t have pulled off this impressive victory over the Nuggets on Dec. 6 without the two-way efforts of Lonzo. He was a stud on both ends of the floor and showed how switchable he can be.

He registered a solid 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. Along with that, Lonzo put up a game-high four blocks, tied a team-high with 10 rebounds, and had four assists.

Both LaVine and Lonzo registered box plus/minus ratings better than 9.0 in this game. They also posted by far the best plus/minuses in this game, each finishing up at least +16.

The Bulls are going to need players like Lonzo and LaVine to step up the way they did in this win over the Nuggets if they want to continue this winning streak heading into one of the easier stretches of the regular season schedule.

Following this win over the Nuggets, the Bulls are now sitting on a four-game winning streak and are sporting a record of 17-8. Next up for the Bulls is a meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road on Dec. 8.