Chicago Bulls can't overcome 7-point quarter in loss to Rockets
The Houston Rockets are a team not generally associated with suffocating defense, especially the current Carmelo Anthony version.
The Chicago Bulls were hanging around with the Rockets on Saturday at the United Center, on the way to another respectable near-win.
But then the Rockets must have dug into the old Jeff Bzdelik defensive playbook or somebody sneaked in and fastened a lid onto the basket. The Bulls scored 7 points in the third quarter, hitting dismal 2 of 17 shots from the field. Bzdelik is the Mount Prospect native who was in charge of Houston's defense until retiring this summer.
The Bulls got back within 5 points in the fourth quarter but finished on the short end of the rare sub-100 NBA game, losing 96-88. They completed an 0-4 homestand, which began with the blowout against Golden State, before 3 narrower losses.
"We have the energy, we have the effort to show we can compete with them," Bulls rookie Chandler Hutchison said. "But we've just got to learn from it. It's so early."
At the midway point of the third quarter, the Bulls trailed 60-59. But while they kept bricking away, Houston's James Harden went to work. Back on the floor after missing four games with a hamstring injury, Harden (25 points) delivered a personal 11-0 run, featuring 3 baskets from 3-point range and 2 free throws.
Gerald Green's alley-oop completed a 15-0 Rockets run and suddenly the Bulls trailed 73-59.
"We won three of those quarters. Unfortunately, we lost the fourth one big, and you can't have those types of lapses, especially as depleted as we are right now," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We're battling, we're growing defensively as a group. We've just got to be more consistent for 48 minutes."
The third-quarter struggles probably were best explained by a lack of ball movement and settling for long shots. The Bulls went 0-for-8 from 3-point range.
"The defense that Houston plays, a switching defense, the way we played in the third quarter, it really got us stagnant," Hoiberg said.
The Bulls (2-8) got the lead down to 5 with four minutes left, but a series of almost comical miscues thwarted the comeback.
Justin Holiday threw a pass at midcourt that was intercepted by Chris Paul, Hutchison missed a point-blank tip-in, Jabari Parker threw an outlet pass out of bounds and Parker had another pass intercepted when the Bulls had possession trailing 92-86.
A glaring entry on the final box score was Parker's 7 turnovers. Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 21 points, while Parker added 15. Backup guard Antonio Blakeney, who had been on fire lately, went 0-for-6 from the field for 2 points.
Both sides did a lot of complaining to the officials. LaVine, Paul and Harden were each hit with technicals.
It was a pretty good night for the Bulls' rookies. Hutchison got an extended run, playing 27 minutes and scoring 12 points. Center Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks.
"I love our young guys," Hoiberg said. "Wendell, some of those plays he made with the rebound, the blocks, he's going to be an absolute stud in this league."
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