Miller, Gibson lead Bulls past Rockets
The Bulls received some bad news just before taking the court against the Houston Rockets on Saturday: Center Joakim Noah would miss his first game this season because of a left foot injury.
Surprisingly, though, Noah's absence turned into a positive when veteran center Brad Miller pulled out a version of his game that hasn't been seen in a while.
Miller scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down a vital offensive rebound as the Bulls pulled off their second upset victory in as many nights, beating the Rockets 104-97 at the Toyota Center.
The Bulls (20-22) are now 2-2 on the trip with the next stop Monday in San Antonio.
Before this game, Miller's season-high scoring total was 16 points. He hadn't scored this many in a game since last Jan. 14, when he still played for Sacramento and piled up 30 points and 22 rebounds in an epic triple-overtime win over Golden State.
Miller had just 5 rebounds against Houston (24-19), but his last one might have saved the game. The Bulls were clinging to a 99-97 advantage with 48.9 seconds left when rookie Taj Gibson missed a pair of free throws.
But Miller outmuscled Luis Scola to grab a one-handed rebound, which led to Derrick Rose's pull-up jumper that sent the Bulls up by 4 with 30 seconds remaining. After a couple more Houston misses, the game was over.
Rose finished with 20 points, while Gibson produced 16 points and 14 rebounds. Tyrus Thomas collected 6 blocks off the bench. The Bulls shot 53.4 percent as a team, their second straight game above 50 percent. They also shot 3-pointers as well as they have all year, hitting 7 of 12.
Noah is experiencing some plantar fascitis and the Bulls hope with a couple days of rest, he'll be ready to play Monday against the Spurs.
Both these teams were coming off impressive road wins on Friday night. Houston won at San Antonio, while the Bulls knocked off Phoenix behind Rose's 32 points.
The Bulls jumped to a 10-2 lead at Houston and never trailed. They held a 12-point edge late in the third quarter before the Rockets closed within 88-86 with 7:56 left.
That's when Miller took over. He knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, dropped a technical free throw, then found Gibson for a dunk that made it 97-86 with 5:22 left.
The Bulls were still up 8 with two minutes remaining before a 3-point play by Carl Landry and 3-point shot from Aaron Brooks trimmed the lead to 2 with 1:36 left. Brooks missed a 3-pointer that could have put Houston ahead before Miller's clutch offensive rebound.
Landry led the Rockets with 22 points, while Brooks and Scola had 20 each.
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Mike McGraw's game tracker</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Bulls 104, Rockets 97</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Miller time arrives: Center Joakim Noah sat out with a sore left foot and veteran Brad Miller took full advantage of his chance to start. Miller scored a game-high 25 points, his highest total since rejoining the Bulls last year. The Bulls won for just the third time in their last 14 against the Rockets.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Road tripping: This ice-show trip appeared to be a road to nowhere when the Bulls opened with losses to the Warriors and the Clippers. Now they've won two straight against Phoenix and Houston, and the relatively soft closing schedule is starting to look inviting.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Taj responds: Rookie Taj Gibson did a pretty good Joakim Noah imitation, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Derrick Rose scored 20 and knocked down a clinching jumper with 30 seconds left.</p>