They say all good things must come to an end. The Denver Nuggets experienced that firsthand on Monday, as a seven-game win streak was snapped at the hands of Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls in a 130-127 nailbiter. The loss certainly had nothing to do with Nikola Jokic, who tallied yet another triple-double with 36 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. 

The most formidable challenge for the Nuggets on Monday, as exhibited by the 130 points allowed, was guarding the Bulls and preventing them from getting anything we want offensively. Jamal Murray, who scored 34 points in the loss, explained why the Nuggets had such difficulty guarding an upstart Bulls team that has had a surprising start to the season. 

“I think we missed some closeouts, some rotations, but they made shots for most of the game,” Murray said. “We just have to be better with our closeouts and making them do something else … They play fast, even after makes. When they get it going, they can get it going. There's not just one person, multiple guys impacted the game tonight. They just play fast and they play free.”

While the Bulls were certainly making their shots and playing efficiently on offense, Murray made it clear that the Nuggets’ defense wasn’t exactly making it hard for them. 

“They came in and hit shots,” Murray said. They messed our defense up a little bit. We didn't react quick enough, we weren't aggressive enough. So, I think it's a little bit of both. Us not making them do something else as well. It goes hand in hand, I think it's both ways. But kudos to them, they shot great all night.”

In terms of where Murray was placing the blame for the Nuggets' loss on Monday, the buck didn’t go too far. Murray blamed a turnover he had on an errant pass with 1:05 to go after a Kevin Huerter 3-pointer for Chicago that he believes was the single key to the game and why his team lost.

“I had a big turnover late, I think that was the key to the loss,” Murray said. “Honestly, we can talk about everything leading up to it, but when it comes down to it, it was a big possession. I think just being sharper with stuff like that. We've done a pretty good job executing. I don't think we had that many turnovers tonight, but it came costly at certain times.”