Heading into last night’s game in Chicago, the Denver Nuggets were 4-2 and coming off a big win in Dallas against the Mavericks. A victory against the Bulls—one of the early contenders in a stacked Eastern Conference—would have further cemented Denver’s spot as one of the league’s top teams. But it wasn’t meant to be. The Nuggets’ bench couldn’t hold the leads that the starters built, and the team came up just short, 94-92 (recap via Denver Stiffs). Carmelo Anthony led the way for Denver, at times dominating Chicago for a game-high 32 points, more than double the Nuggets’ next leading scorer, Aaron Afflalo, who added 15 (box score via NBA.com).

The trip to Chicago added intrigue to the Melo trade storyline, which has been relatively quiet since the season started a couple weeks ago. Chicago is now one of the cities rumored to be in the running for Melo’s services, and several Bulls players tell ESPN they’d love to have him on their side.

But Melo surprises The Denver Post, saying he could see himself staying in Denver through a playoff run and that his opinion on this year’s team—thought by many to be the best Nuggets squad since the Western Conference Finals run in 2008—is pretty high. “I think my attitude would be totally different if I was here and we were 0-6 right now,” Melo adds. “Probably, but I can’t really speak on that, because we’re not. I’m in a good state right now.”