Rockets-Bulls Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 01 2012 11:39PM

The Chicago Bulls have been beaten handily by their last three Western Conference opponents, but could be facing the right one to end that slide.

The Bulls will be without Derrick Rose once again on Monday night when they try to defeat the visiting Houston Rockets for the sixth straight time.

Chicago (42-12) has lost by double digits to its last three foes from the West, including Sunday's 92-78 road defeat to conference-leading Oklahoma City. The Bulls shot a season-low 33.0 percent.

"They really just kicked our (butt)," said center Joakim Noah, who went 1 for 8 and finished with five points and six rebounds. "That really hasn't happened to us in a long time so for us to lose like that is bad, we've gotta bounce back."

Rose missed his 10th straight game due to an injured groin that is preventing him from running. Coach Tom Thibodeau did not blame the loss on the absence of the reigning league MVP.

"Derrick's a great player. Obviously, we prefer to have him," Thibodeau said. "But we have more than enough. I was more concerned (Sunday) with the mental aspect. I thought we made a lot of mental mistakes."

Richard Hamilton, the other half of Chicago's starting backcourt, missed his 14th straight game because of a right shoulder contusion but could return Monday.

"I feel good about Rip because Rip's been practicing. He's made very good progress," Thibodeau said. "He has no problems with his lower body. He's doing a lot of shooting. The thing is the contact part of it. I just want to make sure from that aspect. But all the lower body injuries he's had, he's completely healthy."

The Bulls have won the last five meetings against the Rockets (28-25), including a pair of three-point victories last season in which Rose averaged 31.5 points and 9.0 assists while shooting 54.2 percent.

Luis Scola scored 27 points for Houston in each defeat, making 20 of 35 shots over the two games.

While the Bulls are battling the Thunder for the league's best record, the Rockets are merely trying to reach the playoffs. They hold a one-game lead over Utah for the West's eighth and final playoff spot after falling 104-102 in overtime at home to Indiana on Sunday.

Houston blew a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, then got outrebounded 9-0 in the extra session.

"I think they outhustled us, especially in the start of that overtime," Rockets center Marcus Camby said. "They got like three or four possessions before they finally got the bucket. We had opportunities to win, we just didn't do a good job of closing out this game."

All five Houston starters reached double figures, led by Goran Dragic's 22 points. Dragic is averaging 20.4 points over his last five games, with three of those contests needing overtime.

Dragic continues to start in place of Kyle Lowry, who has missed the last 13 games because of a bacterial infection. Fellow starting guard Kevin Martin has been out 11 straight with a sprained right shoulder.

Chicago fell to 11-5 against the West after Sunday's loss, while Houston dropped to 10-6 against the East.

Dragic scores 21 as Rockets rally past Bulls 99-93

By ANDREW SELIGMAN
Posted Apr 02 2012 11:56PM

CHICAGO (AP) The Chicago Bulls went more than a year without dropping consecutive regular-season games, a run that ended with a rather disappointing effort.

Goran Dragic scored 21 points, Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets rallied to beat Chicago 99-93 Monday night.

The Bulls had gone a franchise-record 86 regular-season games without dropping two in a row, second only to Utah's 95-game run in the late 1990s. But after getting mauled by Oklahoma City, they fell again for the second time in as many days, dropping a wild game that saw several major swings in momentum.

When it was over, coach Tom Thibodeau was seething.

"I felt like we let go of the rope," he said.

Never mind that the Bulls still boast the league's best record, with Oklahoma City losing to Memphis. The killer instinct that carried Chicago wasn't there this time.

The Bulls hadn't dropped two straight in the regular season since Feb. 5-7 last season, when they fell at Golden State and Portland, and they sure seemed to be in control of this one until everything unraveled.

The Rockets trailed by as much as 15 in the first half and were down 13 in the third, but two big runs turned this one around. A 14-1 binge tied it at 62 late in the quarter, and they had a 17-2 burst that started in the final minute of the third and gave them an 84-72 lead.

"We got better stops," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "We were more active on the defensive end. We chased better on (Richard) Hamilton and (Kyle) Korver."

Chase Budinger chipped in with 13 points, hitting three big 3-pointers early in the fourth. Courtney Lee scored 13, and Marcus Camby had 12 points and 11 rebounds to help the Rockets bounce back from an overtime loss to Indiana on Sunday.

Luol Deng led Chicago with 24 points, while Carlos Boozer scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Joakim Noah added 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, but it was another rough outing for the Bulls.

They probably could have used Derrick Rose, but their All-Star guard missed his 11th straight game because a right groin injury. Then again, the Bulls dismissed that as a convenient excuse.

"They got guys out, too," Deng said.

And the Bulls are 14-7 without Rose, so they've been winning when he's not in the lineup. They also got Hamilton back from a 14-game absence because of a sprained and bruised right shoulder, but he finished with just six points - all in the early going. Hamilton also had five of Chicago's 19 turnovers.

The turnovers clearly stood out to Thibodeau. He repeated that word early in his postgame news conference - "turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers," he said - and kept harping on the sloppy play.

"We lost the last two games because of our mistakes," he said.

The Bulls appeared to be in good shape, leading 61-48 after Boozer's finger roll 4 1/2 minutes into the third.

But the Rockets answered Boozer's layup by scoring 14 of the next 15 points, tying it at 62 on Camby's jumper with about three minutes left. Then, with under a minute left in the quarter, Patrick Patterson scored on a reverse layup and Earl Boykins hit a 16-footer to send Houston into the fourth quarter with a 71-70 lead and start that 17-2 run.

It included three 3s by Budinger in the opening minutes of the period, the third making it 84-72.

"Coach said to be ready for that quick swing and be locked in and I was able to knock them down," Budinger said.

NOTES: Houston's Kyle Lowry missed his 14th game in a row because of a bacterial infection and teammate Kevin Martin sat out his 12th straight with a sprained right shoulder. ... No surprise, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau wasn't about to wax poetic after being selected the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month. "That's a byproduct of a good team, good coaching staff, good organization." The Bulls went 13-3 in March. ... The Rockets were 20-8 at home and 8-17 on the road entering Monday's game, and coach Kevin McHale was at a loss to explain the disparity. "I never understood that," he said. "Baskets are 10 feet high and the court's 94 feet. I've never seen a fan score a point yet."

Notebook: Rockets 99, Bulls 93

Posted Monday April 2, 2012 11:36PM

By Kent McDill, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The visiting Houston Rockets made a great second half comeback and dominated the fourth quarter on the way to a 99-93 over the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls led by 11 at halftime and 13 midway through the third quarter before the Rockets got hot from the field and the Bulls started making mistakes. Goran Dragic led the Rockets with 20 points and added five assists while Luis Scola added 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Luol Deng had 24 points and Carlos Boozer added 16 points and 13 rebounds.

NOTABLE: The loss, following Chicago's loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday, ended the Bulls' 86-game streak of avoiding a two-game losing streak in the regular season. The last time the Bulls lost consecutive regular season games was Feb. 5-7, 2011.

THE STAT: The Rockets committed just eight turnovers in the game, while the Bulls had 19, leading to 24 Houston points. Bulls guard Rip Hamilton, playing for the first time since early March because of a shoulder injury, had five turnovers in just 20 minutes of play.

QUOTABLE: "Every game is huge. It's a battle in the West. Every game is basically a playoff-berth game."
-- Houston forward Chandler Parsons

QUOTABLE II: "Started the first quarter the same way. Ended the second (quarter) the same way. Started the third quarter the same way. No edge. No defense. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers."
-- Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau

THE STAT II: The Bulls outrebounded the Rockets 47-38 (with 18 offensive boards) and outshot the Rockets from the field percentage-wise, but the Rockets had two more field goals and three more points from the free throw line as the Bulls were 8-for-17 from the stripe. The Bulls rank 26th in the league in free throw shooting.

TURNING POINT: Trailing 61-48 in the third quarter, the Rockets went on a 14-1 run to tie the game at 62-62. Marcus Camby, Scola and Chase Budinger each contributed two baskets in the run.

INJURY UPDATE: Thibodeau waited until 10 minutes before game time to announce Hamilton was going to play for the first time since March 5 because of a shoulder injury. Hamilton scored six points, all in the first quarter. Derrick Rose remained out with his sore groin, missing his 11th straight game. Houston's Kyle Lowry remained out with a bacterial infection and Kevin Martin is out with a strained shoulder.

QUOTABLE III: "We miss Derrick. We are better with Derrick. But everybody has injuries. They (the Rockets) are missing guys. We have enough talent to win."
-- Deng

HOT: Dragic was the best point guard on the floor all night, making eight of 12 shots. He also had four steals to go with his five assists.

NOTABLE II: Both the Bulls and the Rockets were looking ahead to a break in the insane schedule for 2011-12. The Bulls play next on Thursday in Boston, but that is the only game between Tuesday and Sunday. The Rockets do not play again until Friday in Los Angeles against the Lakers, a full three days off in between games.

UP NEXT: For the Bulls, Thursday vs. Boston, Sunday @ New York, April 10 vs. New. For the Rockets, Friday @ L.A. Lakers, Sunday @ Sacramento, Monday @ Portland.

• Rockets: Smith, Thomas
• Bulls: --

• Rockets: --
• Bulls: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: United Center, Chicago, IL
• Officials: #7 Kevin Fehr, #10 Ron Garretson, #36 David Jones
• Attendance: 21936
• Duration: 2:12