The Chicago Bulls revamped their roster ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, making a flurry of deals that shipped eight players away.
That didn’t equate to a retooled style, however, as Chicago’s new acquisitions have learned.
On Saturday, they’ll hope to maintain the preferred frenetic pace of Bulls coach Billy Donovan against the visiting Denver Nuggets. After they get acclimated, of course.
Chicago returns home from a four-game road trip with a bevy of new faces. Some of them suited up Thursday in a 123-107 loss in Toronto, the Bulls’ sixth defeat in seven games.
Former Detroit Piston Jaden Ivey logged a season-high 33 minutes.
“Praise God that I was even able to play the whole game,” he said.
Anfernee Simons, who came from the Boston Celtics — who use the fewest possessions per game in the league — could attest.
“I was pretty tired out there today,” Simons said. “Really tired. And Billy was just telling us to play faster.”
At any rate, the Bulls are bracing for a Western Conference contender in the Nuggets, who are on a season-worst three-game slide.
Denver will aim to salvage a victory from a three-game road trip that has started with narrow defeats in Detroit and New York. The Nuggets have been idle since their 134-127 double-overtime loss to the Knicks on Wednesday.
“That was a really fun game,” said Jamal Murray, whose 39 points paced the Nuggets. “Those are the games that are memorable. Obviously, the loss sucks. But that’s a game that could have gone either way at any point of the overtime, any point of the fourth quarter. Those are the games you want to be a part of.”
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic contributed 30 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to notch his 181st career triple-double. That matched him with Oscar Robertson for second-most all-time.
Jokic, who is working his way back from a knee injury, played 44:37 in the second night of a back-to-back but downplayed any concerns about fatigue.
“I don’t feel any tiredness,” Jokic said.
Coach David Adelman confirmed that the club’s medical staff cleared the increased workload.
“There was an ‘I don’t care’ factor once it got to overtime,” Adelman said. “We talked about it, and then medical, they said no, he’s fine to go. I think the issue would have been if I had sat him too long and then tried to get him back for key moments.”
Fellow starter Peyton Watson left the game with a hamstring injury.
Chicago is trying to claim back-to-back season series from Denver for the first time since 1997-98. The Bulls have defeated the Nuggets in three straight games, including a 130-127 victory in Denver on Nov. 17.
Josh Giddey had 21 points and 14 rebounds to spark Chicago, while Jokic posted a triple-double of 36 points, 18 boards and 13 assists.
Giddey (hamstring) missed his fifth straight game Thursday.
He’s sure to know the drill once he returns.
“All these guys coming in, we tried to emphasize move the ball and share the ball and space correctly,” Donovan said, “and try to communicate as well as we can.”
