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Preview: Nuggets (13-19) at Bulls (22-10)
Date: January 01, 2015 8:00 PM EDT
After relying heavily on Jimmy Butler and the offense, the Chicago Bulls are suddenly struggling to find their shot.
A home game against the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets may help them regain their scoring touch.
Butler and the Bulls try to bounce back from their worst offensive performance of the season and send the Nuggets to a seventh straight road loss for the first time in a decade when they meet New Year's Day.
Chicago's season-high seven-game winning streak ended with Tuesday's 96-82 loss to Brooklyn, but its shooting woes emerged the night before in Indiana. The Bulls (22-10) missed 19 of 21 shots in the fourth quarter Monday and ended up shooting a season-low 34.5 percent but managed to escape with a 92-90 victory.
Chicago, which averaged 109.0 points and shot 47.3 percent during the first six games of its streak, couldn't overcome its 38.4 percent shooting against the Nets and finished with a season-low point total.
Butler and Derrick Rose are in the middle of the cold shooting.
After averaging 26.4 points and shooting 49.6 percent during the win streak, Butler had a season-low eight points on 3-of-12 shooting Tuesday. Rose has totaled 21 points on 7-of-35 shooting in the last two games after averaging 23.3 points on 54.4 percent shooting in his previous four.
"I thought we were flat from the start," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Not just those two guys, our whole team.
"The important thing is we have to play with more of an edge. Overall, I think we are making good progress, but things weren't going our way. When they don't go our way, we have to do other things to help ourselves to win."
The Bulls may have a good shot at getting their offense back on track against a Denver team that has allowed opponents to average 108.2 points in losing four of five.
Even with Rose limited to 10 minutes due to a tight hamstring, Chicago had no trouble offensively in Denver on Nov. 25. Butler went 18 of 20 from the foul line and scored 32 points, but the Bulls were let down by their defense in a 114-109 loss.
Ty Lawson, averaging 22.3 points in his last four games, had 20 points and 12 assists to lead Denver to a sixth victory in the last seven meetings.
The Nuggets (13-19) had few answers for the Los Angeles Lakers in Tuesday's 111-103 home defeat, letting them shoot 52.6 percent and make 14 of 25 3-point attempts. Denver fell behind by as many as 23 before pulling within five with 4:04 to play.
"The problem with us was we waited too late to start playing with that kind of energy and intensity," coach Brian Shaw said.
That's been an ongoing problem for the Nuggets, who are allowing an average of 27.2 first-quarter points for one of the league's worst marks.
Another problem has been their play away from Denver.
The Nuggets have been outscored by an average of 15.5 points in losing six straight road games since beating Utah 103-101 on Dec. 1. They haven't dropped seven in a row since an eight-game skid from Dec. 17, 2004-Jan. 17, 2005.
Denver is averaging 92.3 points during its road slide - 9.2 less than its season average - and could be without Wilson Chandler after he bruised his right quadriceps Tuesday. Chandler is tied with Arron Afflalo for second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game but is averaging 8.7 and has missed 13 of 15 from long range in his last three road contests.
Date: January 01, 2015 8:00 PM EDT
After relying heavily on Jimmy Butler and the offense, the Chicago Bulls are suddenly struggling to find their shot.
A home game against the defensively challenged Denver Nuggets may help them regain their scoring touch.
Butler and the Bulls try to bounce back from their worst offensive performance of the season and send the Nuggets to a seventh straight road loss for the first time in a decade when they meet New Year's Day.
Chicago's season-high seven-game winning streak ended with Tuesday's 96-82 loss to Brooklyn, but its shooting woes emerged the night before in Indiana. The Bulls (22-10) missed 19 of 21 shots in the fourth quarter Monday and ended up shooting a season-low 34.5 percent but managed to escape with a 92-90 victory.
Chicago, which averaged 109.0 points and shot 47.3 percent during the first six games of its streak, couldn't overcome its 38.4 percent shooting against the Nets and finished with a season-low point total.
Butler and Derrick Rose are in the middle of the cold shooting.
After averaging 26.4 points and shooting 49.6 percent during the win streak, Butler had a season-low eight points on 3-of-12 shooting Tuesday. Rose has totaled 21 points on 7-of-35 shooting in the last two games after averaging 23.3 points on 54.4 percent shooting in his previous four.
"I thought we were flat from the start," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Not just those two guys, our whole team.
"The important thing is we have to play with more of an edge. Overall, I think we are making good progress, but things weren't going our way. When they don't go our way, we have to do other things to help ourselves to win."
The Bulls may have a good shot at getting their offense back on track against a Denver team that has allowed opponents to average 108.2 points in losing four of five.
Even with Rose limited to 10 minutes due to a tight hamstring, Chicago had no trouble offensively in Denver on Nov. 25. Butler went 18 of 20 from the foul line and scored 32 points, but the Bulls were let down by their defense in a 114-109 loss.
Ty Lawson, averaging 22.3 points in his last four games, had 20 points and 12 assists to lead Denver to a sixth victory in the last seven meetings.
The Nuggets (13-19) had few answers for the Los Angeles Lakers in Tuesday's 111-103 home defeat, letting them shoot 52.6 percent and make 14 of 25 3-point attempts. Denver fell behind by as many as 23 before pulling within five with 4:04 to play.
"The problem with us was we waited too late to start playing with that kind of energy and intensity," coach Brian Shaw said.
That's been an ongoing problem for the Nuggets, who are allowing an average of 27.2 first-quarter points for one of the league's worst marks.
Another problem has been their play away from Denver.
The Nuggets have been outscored by an average of 15.5 points in losing six straight road games since beating Utah 103-101 on Dec. 1. They haven't dropped seven in a row since an eight-game skid from Dec. 17, 2004-Jan. 17, 2005.
Denver is averaging 92.3 points during its road slide - 9.2 less than its season average - and could be without Wilson Chandler after he bruised his right quadriceps Tuesday. Chandler is tied with Arron Afflalo for second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game but is averaging 8.7 and has missed 13 of 15 from long range in his last three road contests.
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