advertisement

Bulls rally in 4th, beat Rockets

This fact wasn't featured on the United Center's outdoor message boards, but Monday's contest featured players who rank 1-2 in the NBA in free throw attempts this season - Houston's James Harden and the Bulls' Jimmy Butler.

Maybe the Bulls game-planned for this phenomenon, because somehow they limited the Rockets as a team to just 5 free throw attempts. Harden, who has averaged 9.1 free throws per game, shot 3.

With the Bulls enjoying a big advantage at the foul line, they rallied in the fourth quarter to post a 114-105 victory over Western Conference power Houston at the United Center.

The final free-throw tally was 27 of 30 attempts for the Bulls, compared to just 3 of 5 for the Rockets. In their last game, the Bulls outscored Boston by 20 at the foul line.

The Bulls (25-10) have now won 12 of their last 14 games.

The Bulls trailed 98-90 with 7:43 remaining, but finished the game on a 24-7 run. They started the fourth quarter with a dry spell, hitting just 4 of their first 16 shots.

Things started to pick up when the Bulls grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, then Derrick Rose found Pau Gasol for a lay in and 3-point play, which close the margin to 100-98 with 3:19 left.

Butler tied the score with a jumper, then took a charge against Harden. On the other end, Gasol gave the Bulls a 102-100 edge with a pair of free throws.

Houston (23-11) took the lead once more on a Josh Smith 3-pointer, but Butler answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Smith, shooting 22 percent from long range this season, decided to try another one and missed. This led to a pair of Rose free throws to put the Bulls up by 4.

After Harden missed from long range, rookie Nikola Mirotic connected on a corner 3-pointer and the Bulls were in command at 110-103 with 39.6 seconds remaining.

Gasol led the Bulls with 27 points and 14 rebounds. He had it rolling in the first quarter, scoring 18 of those points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Butler scored 22 points, including 6 of 7 free throws; while Rose added 19. Harden led the Rockets with 20 points, but the NBA's top scorer hit just 7 of 22 shots from the field and couldn't get to the foul line working against Butler and Kirk Hinrich.

All of the sudden, coach Tom Thibodeau has fallen in love with Mirotic at small forward. Mirotic didn't start Monday's game, but the Bulls finished with Mirotic, Gasol and Joakim Noah across the front line.

Mirotic, who attended Sunday's Northwestern-Wisconsin game with Bulls scout Ivica Dukan, had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks on Monday.

The first half was quite a shootout, ending in a 62-62 tie. The Bulls shot 57.8 percent from the field, while Houston connected on 55.8 percent.

• Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

Addition by subtraction new trend in NBA?

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.