Even on a night when Nikola Jokic delivered another absurd masterpiece, the conversation quickly shifted to a glaring issue: his defense. The Denver Nuggets fell 130-127 to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night at Ball Arena, snapping their seven-game winning streak and dropping them to 10-3.

And while Jokic posted a monster 36 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists, he also took responsibility for the defensive breakdowns that played a major role in the loss.

After the game, Jokic didn’t hide from the criticism.

“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” Jokic told reporters. “We tried to cross-match, we tried me being in drop, we tried to rotate early, we tried going back to the shooter. So it was a little bit of everything. They had a really good shooting night… but it seemed like we were always a step late in communication, close outs, reactions.”

Chicago repeatedly targeted Jokic in pick-and-roll coverages and pick-and-pop actions, forcing him to make long recoveries to shooters. The Bulls drilled 8-10 threes directly over or around Jokic’s late contests, exploiting Denver’s cross-matching and forcing the MVP center into uncomfortable defensive territory.

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The defensive lapses overshadowed an otherwise dominant individual performance. Jokic notched his eighth triple-double of the season, nearly completing it by halftime. But the late closeouts and slow reactions became too much to overcome as Chicago capitalized again and again from deep.

It was the first time this season that Denver’s usually airtight late-game execution failed them. Their three losses have been decided by a combined 11 points, with the Bulls joining the Warriors and another narrow defeat in handing Denver close heartbreaks.

Jamal Murray tried to pull the Nuggets across the finish line, scoring 34 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. Aaron Gordon added 24, but Denver’s inability to contain Chicago’s perimeter shooting proved fatal.

The Nuggets remain one of the NBA’s elite teams, a true juggernaut with a league-best point differential and championship expectations. But Monday exposed a familiar postseason concern: the challenge of managing Jokic’s defensive limitations in space.

If the Nuggets want to stay atop the West, they’ll need to tighten those coverages, because even Jokic’s brilliance can’t erase nights like this.