Bulls fight hard but fall to the Rockets
Despite drowning in a sea of 3s, Chicago impressed on Monday night
The Chicago Bulls lost their fifth of six games on Monday night, falling 116–107 to Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets. Chicago got impressive performances from Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis, but the Rockets were too fiery from long range to overcome.
The game went off the rails early, with the Rockets running away to a 21-point lead in the first quarter, thanks in large part to nine made 3-pointers. Despite a comical deficit like that, the Bulls kept grinding and actually managed to briefly take the lead midway through the third. Sloppy rebounding and poor care for the ball kept the lead brief, however, and the Rockets cruised to a comfortable win, their 28th of the season.
For the Bulls, Bobby Portis led the team in scoring with 22 points on 17 shots. This was the Bobby Portis we’ve come to know over the last two seasons and change. That ball was going up as soon as it touched his hands. Markkanen open on the wing and both Clint Capela and PJ Tucker clogging the lane? Nah, son. It’s Bobby’s time to shine. The evening reached its peak when Portis managed to draw a foul after missing two consecutive layups, then flexed to the crowd in a confusing celebration. It’s like if you took Carlos Boozer’s world famous “AND ONE” catchphrase and made it much worse and kind of sad. Kris Dunn and Denzel Valentine both chipped in 19 points and zero flexes. Dunn, who has had a very hard time staying out of foul trouble, picked up four fouls once again, but succeeded in making Chris Paul’s life difficult with three steals.
For the Rockets, Chris Paul and Eric Gordon each put up 24 points and nine assists, and Gerald Green scored 22 points of his own after starting this season on his couch at home. Two of those points came from a nasty dunk that seemed to turn back time itself:
With 20 made 3-pointers, Houston scored more from deep than any opponent in Bulls franchise history. That’s tough to beat, and it continued Chicago’s defensive woes in the new year. This month (in which five games have been played), the Bulls have a defensive rating of 117.6. This isn’t to say that the Bulls should be expected to shut down a historically good offense like Houston, but it does contrast with Chicago’s impressive defense throughout December (103.9 defensive rating).
One perpetrator in particular was Cristiano Felicio, the once beloved backup center turned $32 million benchwarmer. Felicio looks like a completely different player than the promising albeit raw prospect we saw last season. The Brazilian big man was completely lost on defense, and Houston ruthlessly took advantage time and time again. Felicio will likely be yanked right back out of the rotation once Nikola Mirotic returns from illness, but if Niko ends up on the trading block, Felicio will have to find a way to rediscover some of the spark from last season without catching easy lobs from Dwyane Wade.
The Bulls will face off next on Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, a game that could potentially have *swallows hard* playoff implications. Stay tuned.
