Just in the nick of time, Cam Johnson made his return for the Denver Nuggets to give them some stability at the forward spots.

After missing 23 games in a row, Johnson returned and played 27 minutes in the Nuggets 136-120 win over the Chicago Bulls. Johnson wasn’t the biggest story of the game, but it’s important to lead off with him.

The Nuggets were forced to play extensive minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday night with extremely small lineups on the wing. Johnson helped mitigate that, scored 14 efficient points, and played really smart basketball throughout. Denver probably doesn’t win this game without Cam Johnson.

They obviously don’t win the game without Nikola Jokic either, who made it his personal mission to play nearly perfect basketball on Saturday night. Matched up with Guerschon Yabusele and Nick Richards for most of the evening, Jokic had a considerable mismatch and took advantage, putting up 22 points, 14 rebounds, 17 assists, and 4 blocks in his 33 minutes.

Jokic passed Oscar Robertson officially with the 182nd triple-double of his NBA career, an incredible accomplishment that Jokic continues to make look extremely easy.

The Nuggets were an absurd +36 in the 33 minutes from Jokic tonight. He looks almost entirely back to his old self, and while he will still have some tests to undergo against bigger, stronger centers, he saw the floor exceptionally well tonight, shot the ball well, and made strong efforts on the defensive end.

Not to be outdone, Jamal Murray had an almost quiet 28 points and 11 assists, shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 4-of-9 from three. The Nuggets All-Star guard took on the scoring creation down the stretch when Jokic went down and helped the Nuggets continue to separate away from the Bulls.

Unfortunately, Murray landed awkwardly on a drive to the basket and was moving gingerly. He briefly went back to the tunnel but reemerged late in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets absolutely cannot lose Murray for any prolonged period of time, so here’s hoping he’s fine without any lasting issues.

Outside of those main three, the Nuggets had several other positive contributions from guards and wings. Julian Strawther was fantastic in this game, giving Denver great scoring, spacing, and rebounding. 19 points, 5 defensive rebounds, 4-of-8 from three, and 2 steals. He started in place of the injured Peyton Watson and had a really nice performance.

Christian Braun also continues to look closer to his normal self. He’s still not shooting from outside, but he shot 4-of-4 on two-pointers, grabbed a couple offensive rebounds, ran in transition, and made some stellar defensive plays. He was the primary option on Anfernee Simons who had 15 points on 15 shots. Braun also switched onto several other players, contested on rotations, and did the hustle things the Nuggets needed someone to do.

Finally, Bruce Brown struggled in the first half but had a tremendous second half. His energy and hustle on both ends of the floor helped the Nuggets turn in a 39-16 fourth quarter. Brown played all 12 minutes, finishing the game with 10 points, 4 assists, 3 offensive rebounds, 3 steals, and a block. It’s exactly what the Nuggets needed.

Oh, and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23 points on 11 shots, which was somehow overshadowed in the midst of everything.

The funny thing is, I thought the Nuggets played really well throughout this game.

It was a tale of three quarters vs one quarter in terms of that story though. The Nuggets lost a lot of 50-50 balls, made small mistakes that compounded into big mistakes, and just couldn’t get things to *click* until the final frame. That’s when everything went their way.

Denver started the fourth quarter with a 20-2 run, anchored by a new rotation that the Nuggets have utilized with Jokic. It was the big fella, Johnson, Strawther, Hardaway, and Brown. Denver turned stops into baskets on the other end, continuously applying pressure to the Bulls until they snapped.

It was a really good sign that Jokic and Johnson could immediately find the chemistry they did, while each of the aforementioned guards did exactly what was needed. Jokic’s life was made easier by an opposing team that was basically all new and didn’t know how to play together, and he picked them apart. Jokic force-fed easy opportunities on backdoor cuts, cross court passes, and transition opportunities. It was beautiful when it all clicked.

Are there still things to figure out? Of course. Is it worrisome that Murray might be out for the next couple games leading into the All-Star break? Obviously.

But the Nuggets got off the slide they had against elite teams in the NBA. They faced the Chicago Bulls instead, a perfect get-right opportunity for a motivated Nuggets group.