Houston Rockets defeat the league leading Chicago Bulls 99-93: NBA Recap
Goran Dragic scored a team-high 21 points to help the Houston Rockets beat league leaders Chicago Bulls 99-93 on Monday night, handing the Bulls their first back-to-back loss this season.
Both teams were coming into this game having lost their previous games just last night.
Chicago who have been without their all star guard Derrick Rose for quite some time now have now started to miss his presence. They were looking to bounce back from a mauling last night given to them by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Standing
in their way though were the Rockets, who have been desperately hanging on as a contender for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The first period was a tough contest between the two teams. With Dragic and Camby leading the way, the Rockets held an upper hand as they ended the first quarter 4 points ahead of the home team 26-22.
Chicago came back in the 2nd quarter to tie up the game. Midway during the period, the hosts went on a 7-nothing run to hold an edge and further went on to extend their advantage as they closed the half 11 points ahead
of the Rockets, 51-40.
In the second half the Bulls extended their lead to as many as 15 points. But as they say a game of two halves cannot be written off by just looking at the first, this was the case in this one as well.
Houston who trailed by 13 points midway during the third went on a 14-1 run to tie the scores up at 62 each, but the tide was not over yet. In the last few minutes of the third, they again embarked on a 17-2 run to open up a definitive
advantage over the Eastern Conference giants. By the time, the 4th quarter started the Rockets were leading the Bulls by 84-72.
When the game is on the line a team looks towards their stars to help but with the their brightest star – Rose - out with a right groin injury, Chicago`s search for a leader in this game was unsuccessful.
Houston, who came into the final quarter leading by 12 points, were never really bothered by their opponents in the closing stages of the game. The closest the game came was 6 points which turned out to be the difference between
the two teams as the game came to an end. Houston took this one 99-93.
Dragic had 21 points, Luis Scola scored 18 points and 12 rebounds, Chase Budinger scored 13 points, Courtney Lee scored 13 and Marcus Camby scored 12 points for the Rockets.
Luol Deng led the Bulls with 24 points while Carlos Boozer chipped in with 16 points. Joakim Noah also played well for his 15 points.
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