The Denver Nuggets are coming off a humbling 30-point loss against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. In the loss, the Nuggets allowed a new NBA-record 51 points in the first quarter and could not get back in the game as the Warriors were scorching hot all night. That loss ultimately ended Denver’s 12-game winning streak at home.

Well on Thursday night, the Nuggets were in a perfect bounce-back spot against the perfect candidate, the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago came into the Mile High City on an eight-game losing streak and have only won once in their last 10 games. The Bulls continued their losing ways and pushed their current streak of losses to nine straight as the Nuggets were able to come away with a 135-105 victory.

With that I give you the good, bad and ugly.

Good – Denver bounces back

Good teams go through points in the season where they are still finding themselves and they might have a few hiccups along the way. The Nuggets are currently going through that.

The Nuggets had a disappointing loss to the Phoenix Suns, but showed that they could turn it around in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers just before the loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Denver go back to their winning ways against the Bulls. The Nuggets put up 135 points and also made 20 3-pointers on the night en route to a 30-point shellacking.

Jamal Murray came alive in the third quarter as he finished with 22 of his 25 points in that quarter alone before getting the fourth quarter off to rest. He knocked down seven 3-pointers and proved to be a human microwave that could get it going at any time.

Alongside Murray was Jokic who had a pedestrian 18 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. He was not ultra-efficient as a scorer, but he was a difference maker that recovered from an underwhelming outing against the Warriors.

Harris returned after missing the last five games with a hamstring injury. Denver missed his presence on both ends of the court and he showed them exactly why in his first game back. He finished with 14 points in only 18 minutes of action and was not shy shooting the ball in his return.

Millsap was also aggressive offensively and had the play of the night early on. He finished with 14 points on the night and was his usual self on the defensive end also recording a steal. This dunk in the first half was a start of a 13-0 run for the Nuggets and got the Pepsi Center crowd on their feet.

 Bad – Markannen goes wild

The Nuggets defensive issues have not been a secret as they have been allowing some big-time scores as of late.

Heading into the game, head coach Michael Malone wanted to use Denver’s matchup with the Bulls to start fixing their defense. He even had some interesting thoughts during his pregame availability regarding the Nuggets defensive lapses; particularly what their defensive struggles have to do with preparing and understanding the opposition.

Malone also said that he would be very frustrated if Lauri Markkanen, Jabari Parker and Zach LaVine beat the Nuggets going left. Well, the Nuggets did an okay job as they limited LaVine and Parker to only 23 points combined, but they struggled when it came to Markkanen.

Markkanen has battled injuries all season long, but he is finally back in Chicago’s starting rotation and playing well. He continued his solid play against Denver as he scored 27 points including knocking down five 3-pointers on the night. He also recorded 10 rebounds to complete his double-double and played well despite such a big loss.

Malone challenged the Nuggets on the defensive end and for the most part they showed up, but Denver cannot allow opposing players to get comfortable and in a groove; especially in a game that they are winning so easily.

Ugly – First quarter defense  

The Nuggets are coming off of a game where they not only allowed an NBA-record 51 points in a single quarter, but they have continually shown regression on the defensive side of the court.

There was a point in time that Denver had the third-best defensive rating in the entire NBA, but they have continued to fall and are looking for ways to get back. An expectation heading into Thursday’s game against the Bulls is that the Nuggets would come out in a game against the Bulls with fire and intensity and truly dominate for four quarters.

They dominated – but only for 36 minutes.

Denver started out the game very slow and lethargic. They were not rotating on defense, did not locate and close out on shooters, and that allowed for the Bulls to head into the second quarter up 30-28.

A big part of the reason that Denver has struggled so mightily on the defensive end of the court as of late has been not having a consistent starting and bench rotation due to injuries. Not having their best perimeter defender for five straight games in Gary Harris has affected Denver on both sides of the court.

Denver will have to continue to find ways to get back to the defense that they started the season as and less like the team that showed up for the first quarter against the Bulls.