Rockets Never Lead as Bulls go Wire-to-Wire
HOUSTON, TX -- The Houston Rockets followed up an impressive road win Friday night with a porous defensive effort Saturday night versus the Chicago Bulls; and, the Bulls picked up 104-97 victory in front of an announced sell-out crowd of 18,119 fans.
The Rockets never led in the game. Heck, after the opening score of 0-0, the Rockets never tied the game.
"If you want to win on the road, you have to back them with wins at home," said Rockets forward Luis Scola after the game. "Without winning today, yesterday's win doesn't mean a lot; so, it was pretty disappointing."
The Bulls' offense dominated the Rockets defense for much of the game; however, in the first half, the Bulls looked like the Jordan / Pippen-led Bulls from the championship years. Chicago (20-22) shot 63.4% from the field in the first half including a ridiculous 70.0% (14 for 20) from the field in the second quarter. The Bulls outscored the Rockets 30 to 20 in the opening 24 minutes.
"Very disappointed in the way we came out and played. As good as we were last night, we just came out and we thought we had all day to get in the game," said Rick Adelman. "Sixty-four percent - they shoot in the first half with 64 points."
The Rockets trailed the Bulls 64-52 at halftime.
The Rockets (24-19) tightened the defense in the second half and limited the Bulls to 40 points.
After Taj Gibson's slam dunk gave the Bulls an 11 point lead (97-86) at the 5:27 mark of the fourth quarter, the Rockets outscored the Bulls 11-2 to trail 99-97 with 96 seconds remaining in the game.
After Aaron Brooks clanged a rushed three-point shot at the 1:08 mark, Chicago's Derrick Rose posted up Brooks and scored an 11-foot step back jumper to give the Bulls a four point lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Brooks missed a driving layup seven seconds later; and, Gibson pulled down his career-high 14th rebound. Rose made two free throws; and, the Rockets did not score the rest of the ball game.
Chicago's Brad Miller led all scorers with 25 points. Miller replaced Joakim Noah in the starting lineup. Noah sat out the game with a sore left foot.
The Rockets could not stop Miller. Miller scored inside and outside seemingly at will.
"I didn't know Joakim was hurt until about nine minutes before the game. I have confidence in knowing the way Houston plays; and, my shot felt good."
The Rockets were led by Carl Landry's 22 points off the bench. Brooks and Scola each scored 20 points.
The Rockets shot just 40.0% (34 for 85) from the field; and, the Bulls blocked an opponent's season-high 12 shots.
Rockets center Chuck Hayes summed up the loss to the Bulls: "It was really frustrating that after such a great, inspring win that we had last night, to come out here, our awareness and our discipline just was not there. You can alway pick up your energy; and, the energy picked up in spurts. But, our awareness just was not there."
The Rockets never led in the game. Heck, after the opening score of 0-0, the Rockets never tied the game.
"If you want to win on the road, you have to back them with wins at home," said Rockets forward Luis Scola after the game. "Without winning today, yesterday's win doesn't mean a lot; so, it was pretty disappointing."
The Bulls' offense dominated the Rockets defense for much of the game; however, in the first half, the Bulls looked like the Jordan / Pippen-led Bulls from the championship years. Chicago (20-22) shot 63.4% from the field in the first half including a ridiculous 70.0% (14 for 20) from the field in the second quarter. The Bulls outscored the Rockets 30 to 20 in the opening 24 minutes.
"Very disappointed in the way we came out and played. As good as we were last night, we just came out and we thought we had all day to get in the game," said Rick Adelman. "Sixty-four percent - they shoot in the first half with 64 points."
The Rockets trailed the Bulls 64-52 at halftime.
The Rockets (24-19) tightened the defense in the second half and limited the Bulls to 40 points.
After Taj Gibson's slam dunk gave the Bulls an 11 point lead (97-86) at the 5:27 mark of the fourth quarter, the Rockets outscored the Bulls 11-2 to trail 99-97 with 96 seconds remaining in the game.
After Aaron Brooks clanged a rushed three-point shot at the 1:08 mark, Chicago's Derrick Rose posted up Brooks and scored an 11-foot step back jumper to give the Bulls a four point lead with 30 seconds remaining.
Brooks missed a driving layup seven seconds later; and, Gibson pulled down his career-high 14th rebound. Rose made two free throws; and, the Rockets did not score the rest of the ball game.
Chicago's Brad Miller led all scorers with 25 points. Miller replaced Joakim Noah in the starting lineup. Noah sat out the game with a sore left foot.
The Rockets could not stop Miller. Miller scored inside and outside seemingly at will.
"I didn't know Joakim was hurt until about nine minutes before the game. I have confidence in knowing the way Houston plays; and, my shot felt good."
The Rockets were led by Carl Landry's 22 points off the bench. Brooks and Scola each scored 20 points.
The Rockets shot just 40.0% (34 for 85) from the field; and, the Bulls blocked an opponent's season-high 12 shots.
Rockets center Chuck Hayes summed up the loss to the Bulls: "It was really frustrating that after such a great, inspring win that we had last night, to come out here, our awareness and our discipline just was not there. You can alway pick up your energy; and, the energy picked up in spurts. But, our awareness just was not there."
posted by Kris G @ 11:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home