Rockets Fail to Keep Pace with Chicago, Fall to Bulls, 133-118
Raced Over. Defensive Defeat. Lesson for the Road.
It’s rare to see a team shoot 56% from the field and trail by as many as 25 points in a game. However that’s the position Rockets found themselves in on Monday night. And the Bulls ran all over Houston’s defense, dealing the Rockets a 133-118 defeat in the process. Chicago raced out to a 9-0 lead to start, and Houston never came close to threatening the Bulls’ stranglehold on this game. DeMar DeRozan’s 26 points paced Chicago, who won their second straight contest after having several games postponed due to COVID. Coby White scored 24 points for the Bulls in his best game of the season, and Alfonzo McKinnie had a breakout performance with 16 points off Chicago’s bench. Lonzo Ball played stellar as he always does against the Rockets, chipping in 19 points and 8 dimes. And Nikola Vucevic was a pest in the post, adding 16 points for the Bulls, who got whatever they wanted offensively against Houston.
The Rockets managed to have six players in double-figures, led by Christian Wood’s 23 points, but Houston’s team defense was a no-show on Monday night. Kenyon Martin Jr. continued his stretch of solid games, leading the Rocket bench with 15 points. Josh Christopher had another double-digit performance with 10 points, and Armoni Brooks added 15 for the Rockets, who found the shots they wanted. The issue was stopping the likes of DeMar DeRozan, who seemingly sleepwalked his way to 26 points, and the rest of the Bulls. It’s not a question of Houston’s effort, the team played hard. They just got out hustled and outplayed by a better ball club. Chicago is almost certainly playoff bound this season. Houston, on the other hand, probably won’t see the postseason. This loss is one of many lessons this bereft Rockets team will carry with them throughout the season.
Houston is now 3-14 on the road, compared to an even 7-7 at Toyota Center. A pretty stark comparison. Granted, many of these road games came during the dreaded 15-game losing streak. Since then, the Rockets are 3-3 on the road, so they’ve cleaned their act up slightly after starting 0-11 away from home. And in terms of the opposition coming up, the road doesn’t any easier for the Rockets. Houston travels to Milwaukee next to face the defending champs, in the first of a back-to-back on the road (Rockets play in Indiana on Thursday). The Bucks snapped the Rockets’ seven game winning streak, and are hungry to snap their own two game losing streak. All bets are on the Bucks to bounce back on Wednesday, but Houston played Milwaukee well in their first matchup… an upset would be rare, but not impossible.