Fast-paced Bulls fall to Rockets

HOUSTON -- The Bulls had to play the NBA's hottest team on Sunday night using two players who hadn't practiced at all with the team outside of a brief morning shootaround.

So falling victim to the Houston Rockets' 12th straight victory by a score of 110-97 seemed pretty much inevitable. But the Bulls did manage to send an interesting message, particularly in the first half.

With veterans Ben Wallace and Joe Smith now in Cleveland, the Bulls are a full-fledged, fast-paced team. They ran the court aggressively against one of the league's best defenses.

Newcomer Larry Hughes can definitely get upcourt in a hurry, while new starter Tyrus Thomas (18 points) seems to have tripled his confidence in the past few days, and center Joakim Noah even got into the act with 4 steals and a fastbreak slam.

"I love it," guard Kirk Hinrich said. "If I had a preference, that's the way I would like to play. It's been more of an emphasis lately. I don't think it's because of the trade; I think we tried to do it more."

For the past couple of years, critics often suggested the Cavaliers should play at a faster tempo, but they usually stuck to a slower, defensive-oriented pace.

"I wanted to pick it up, but that just wasn't my system," said Hughes, who scored 13 points in his Bulls debut. "I like it here. I like the energy on the court. Everybody's trying to help one another.

"I like this team. I like how real the coaches talk to everybody. It's going to be fun. I just can't say it enough. I like what everyone's doing."

Of course, playing an effective up-tempo game comes with a few stipulations. The Bulls need to do better than allowing Houston to shoot 51 percent from the field and drill 13 of 24 shots from 3-point range.

"Defensively, we've just got to get better," Hinrich said. "At crucial points, we kind of got lit up out there."

Coach Jim Boylan suggested that sharing the ball would be key. The Bulls did have 28 assists on Sunday, led by Hinrich's 10.

"If we'll move the ball and find people, then we can be very effective," Boylan said. "If we're just holding it or guys are just trying to go 1-on-1, that's not what we want.

"There were some good signs. So I was pleased with how we did that in the first half and hopefully we can kind of make that our signature and play like that for 48 minutes."

The Bulls were within 81-74 with 9:45 remaining before the Rockets knocked down 5 consecutive 3-point shots to pull away. The last 3-pointer of the streak, by Bobby Jackson, made it 107-88 with 3:22 remaining.

The home team also enjoyed a 31-14 edge in free-throw attempts, an advantage that stood at 28-6 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

As usual, the Bulls couldn't guard Tracy McGrady, who had 24 points and 8 assists. Noah did an admirable job on 7-foot-6 Yao Ming, who had 12 points and 6 rebounds.

Hughes and fellow newcomer Drew Gooden came off the bench for the Bulls (22-33) and played between 22 and 25 minutes. Gooden finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds, and he showed some lively legs by dunking over Yao.