Chicago Bulls begin road trip with a win over the Houston Rockets
The Chicago Bulls (6-3) won their fourth-straight game with a 95-92 win over the Houston Rockets (3-7) on Tuesday 16 November at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Playing in their first game of a seven-game road trip, the Bulls were led by Derrick Rose, who tallied 33 points, seven assists, and three steals, going 4-for-5 from three-point range.
Small forward Luol Deng had a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Joakim Noah finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Bench players Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer chipped in with 10 and 11 points, respectively. Korver also had six
rebounds, four assists, and three steals on the night.
The Rockets, playing without Yao Ming for the third-straight game, were led by Luis Scola, who finished with 27 points and five rebounds. Centre Brad Miller and shooting guard Kevin Martin
had 21 and 18 points, respectively, while Shane Battier chipped in with 11. The Rockets didn’t get much production from their reserves, with the entire bench totalling only eight points, while the Bulls got 29 bench points.
The Rockets got off to a good start, outscoring the Bulls 26-19 in the opening quarter but their lead wouldn’t last long as the Bulls went on a 12-2 run early in the second quarter with
both teams playing their reserves. When Rose re-entered the game midway through the second, he had two assists in the final minute to give the Bulls a 49-41 lead at half time.
But the Rockets would go on a run after Rose picked up his fourth foul early in the third, forcing him to sit the final five minutes of the quarter. The Bulls were outscored 30-14 in the
third, giving the Rockets a 71-63 lead heading into the final frame. But Rose showed just how valuable he is to the Bulls when he keyed an 18-0 spurt for the Bulls to open the fourth. All in all, he scored 17 of his 33 points in the final quarter, hitting
three three-pointers in the decisive frame, which the Bulls won 32-21 for the win.
What they said
Rose understood why he had to miss a big chunk of the third quarter.
"It was so frustrating," he told reporters after the game. "I knew I had to sit out, but I was just hoping we could keep it close. That's when they put me back in the game, and I guess
I did what I was supposed to do."
Rose, who is only making 32 per cent of his three-point attempts this year, surprised the Rockets by knocking down three in the fourth quarter.
"You want him taking threes and you've just got to live and die by it," said Martin. "We died by it at the beginning of the fourth."
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau knew going in that Rose would be hard to stop, especially with Yao Ming out with a sprained left ankle.
"He attacks the basket, and when he attacks the basket, he is very difficult to guard," he said.
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