FINAL FROM THE UNITED CENTER:
Houston 96 Bulls 88 (Bulls: 2-8, 1-5 at home)
LEADING SCORERS: Bulls: LaVine 21. Houston: Harden: 25.
LEADING ASSISTS: Bulls: Arcidiacono and LaVine each with 4. Houston: Paul: 8
LEADING REBOUNDERS: Bulls: Carter: 13. Houston: Capela: 11
CCI RECAP: The Rockets held off a fourth quarter rally by the Bulls and escaped with their second win in as many nights. The Bulls went 3-17 from the floor in the third quarter but managed to get back in the game at the foul line nailing 17 of 18 in the fourth quarter. It was a ragged final period by both teams as they combined for 38 turnovers on the night.
CCI GAME BALLS:
Bulls: Chandler Hutchison and Wendell Carter Jr. The two rooks continue to impress. Hutchison is feeling more and more comfortable and showing his aggressiveness on both ends of the court. He scored a season high 12 points while pulling down 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Carter Jr. recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a season high 13 rebounds. He is the seventh rookie in franchise history to post at least two double-doubles in his first ten NBA games. He also has at least one block in nine of the Bulls’ first ten games.
Rockets: James Harden took over in the second and third quarters scoring a combined 21 points. James Ennis scored a season high 15 points and got it going early.
CCI STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Bulls came in shooting 74% from the line. They managed to rip the nets going 26-27 with LaVine making 12 of 13 tosses.
UP NEXT: The Bulls have a mini two game road trip starting Monday in New York against the Knicks.
CCI 24 SECONDS NBA NEWS AND NOTES:
Los Angeles Lakers 114 Portland 110. Rajon Rondo with a 17-10-6 game. Big win for the Lakers as they steal one in the Pacific Northwest. Great stat from ESPN: The Lakers snapped their 16-game losing streak to the Blazers, which was their 2nd-longest streak against a team in franchise history (Celtics – 18). LeBron James finished -22, the worst plus-minus of his career in a team win. James had never finished worse than -11 in a win.
Indiana 102 Boston 101. Victor Oladipo drilled a three ball with 3.4 seconds left. It was a very productive weekend for the All Star guard who was instrumental in beating the Bulls Friday.
Atlanta 123 Miami 118. Trae Young had 24 points and a career high 15 assists. The Hawks win for the third time this season. Miami falls to 3-5.
San Antonio 109 New Orleans 95. The Pelicans have lost five straight.The Spurs bench outscored the Pels reserves 33-13.
Denver 103 Utah 88. The Nuggets won their fourth straight and go to 8-1. Utah has lost three in a row.
Philadelphia 109 Detroit 99. Joel Embiid owns Andre Drummond. Embiid thoroughly out played Drummond scoring 32 of his 39 points in the first half. He also managed 17 rebounds.He went 18 of 23 from the foul line. Drummond finished with 8 points and 9 rebounds. The Pistons have lost four straight.
Charlotte 126 Cleveland 94. The Cavs drop to 1-8. The Hornets out-rebounded Cleveland 49-28.
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