The Bulls have had more emphatic wins than the one they notched tonight. They thumped the Knicks to open the year, mounted an impressive comeback over the Clippers in Los Angeles, claimed two victories over Toronto, won shorthanded in Memphis on a road back-to-back and came through with an emotional triumph in Washington. However, tonight felt more meaningful than any of them. Before covering why, let’s recap the action.

Houston claimed an early lead on the back of MVP frontrunner James Harden. He netted seven quick points, absolutely torching Kirk Hinrich, whose inability to hang with the bearded one was all too predictable. It’s unclear why Kirk started on Harden, but the combination of Jimmy missing the previous game on bereavement leave and that the Bulls adjusted makes it hard to criticize. They tried it, it didn’t work, and they went away from it. That’s all you can ask. Answering Harden’s contributions for Chicago was Pau Gasol, as he’s done so often for them this season. In the first quarter alone, he had 18 points and six rebounds. Similar to LaMarcus Aldridge in last year’s playoffs, Gasol attacked Houston by using Dwight Howard’s reluctance to stretch away from the basket against him. The midrange game was always there and he got in a good rhythm. Finishing with 27 and 14, he’s now gone 25/13 in consecutive games for the second time this year. The rest of the league combined has done that once, achieved, as one might guess, by Anthony Davis.

Once Pau exited to start the second, Derrick Rose picked up where Gasol left off. After starting 0-3, Rose hit his next four shots, finishing the half 4-9. Just 6-17 overall, it was still an improvement from his recent dismal shooting. Houston got contributions from Patrick Beverley and new addition Josh Smith. Beverley continually attack the boards on offense, creating second chance opportunities. He converted all six shot attempts in the opening half before fading to finish 7-12 for 14 points. Smith had his typical mixed bag performance that is becoming the norm with Houston. Taking into account both volume and efficiency, he had his best night as a Rocket, going 10-20 for 21 points. The downside to that was he got back to chucking threes as he had in Detroit. After not taking more than two in any game since joining the team, he took five triples, and a couple of the four misses were rather damaging. He also had four turnovers for the fourth time in seven games as a Rocket.

Tied at halftime and deep into the third, this was a game of runs marked by lots of penetration to the rim. The Bulls got easy alley-oops to Gasol and Butler, with Taj Gibson adding a nasty one-handed putback and Nikola Mirotic added the most emphatic dunk of his young career. Meanwhile, Houston only got to the line three times in the first three quarters largely as a byproduct of the Bulls offering no resistance at the rim whatsoever.

At 83-all, Houston finished the third with a transition three, a point off of a Thibs technical, and finally a Smith tip-in. Despite Jimmy shutting down Harden (no field goals after halftime, per K.C. Johnson, and just 4-19 after starting 3-3), a couple buckets from Mirotic and the Rockets giving Hinrich all day to knock down a corner three, Houston still led 100-95 going into timeout at the 5:41 mark. The scoring frenzy ceased for over two minutes, Houston unable to put the game away and Chicago unable to pull even. Then, in less than 30 seconds, the Bulls had tied it at 100 thanks to buckets from Gasol and Butler.

After a Houston timeout, Jimmy drew a charge on Harden and Pau put the Bulls up with a pair of free throws. Smith hit his lone three to put the Rockets back up, but that would be their last field goal of the game and threes from Butler and Mirotic iced the win.

Both teams played well, and it was one of those games that just came down to whose shots fell. That element, plus their poor interior defense, make it hard to call this the best Bulls win of the year. What makes it the most meaningful is that they again executed offensively down the stretch, hitting big shots and getting fantastic passing from Rose and Gasol, and Thibs finished the game with Hinrich on the bench. Mike Dunleavy remains injured, so Mirotic got his most time yet at small forward, and he rewarded the Bulls for their trust in him. If they can finish games going forward with Rose, Butler, Mirotic and some combination of Noah/Pau/Taj, they’d finally be putting the most talent on the floor that they can. They won’t succeed deep into the playoffs without doing just that.

Chicago now sits at 25-10, the sixth-best record in the league, as well as second in the East. They’re 13-2 since the disappointing home loss to Golden State and will have a chance to solidify their standing in the East over the next two weeks with two games against the Wizards and opportunities to avenge close defeats to Cleveland and Atlanta.

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The once-hot Bulls are now on a bit of a skid, having lost three of their last five games. With a stiff challenge against the Rockets on the docket, Chicago will be hard pressed to keep up its impressive trend of winning after losses. The Bulls have staved off losing back-to-back games 11 of the last 12 times they’ve had the chance but tonight face a team that gives them matchup problems and shellacked them in their first meeting this season.

Yes the Bulls were mired in a deep slump back in December when Houston throttled them on national TV, but Dwight Howard has always given Joakim Noah problems with his strength and physicality that some might even compare to Adonis. (And by “some” I mean “Dwight Howard’s website.”) The Bulls even shot 48% in that 109-94 loss, but it didn’t matter, as 41 of Houston’s 44 made shots came either in the paint or from three, according to NBA.com. Kirk Hinrich missed that game with a back injury, and despite his prowess for showing up on national TV games, his absence pales in comparison to Houston’s injuries, as they were missing Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik and Donatas Motiejunas.

This game pits the fourth place team in each conference against each other, which goes to show the difference between the East and West. Chicago has no better than a puncher’s chance in the second round of the playoffs, while the Rockets are a legitimate Finals contender. Houston has hit their stride in 2014, as it’s been more than two months since their first “bad” loss, only falling to the likes of Golden State, the Clippers and Oklahoma City since the All-Star Break, and each of those were away from home. The loss to Oklahoma City was particularly chippy. Whether Houston is flat after the emotion spent in that game, or angry to take it out on their next opponent will probably be the deciding factor in this game.

The post Rockets at Bulls preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

-This was the most watchable Bulls game in a while. That’s damning with faint praise at its finest, but this game didn’t make you want to bleed your eyes out, à la the superpower serum thingy from Arrow.

-Jimmy Butler had his best game since returning from injury, with 20 points on 8-15 shooting in 35 minutes, including hitting his only triple and finishing a couple lobs at the rim. He only had one rebound and did not tally an assist, but you won’t find me complaining. If and when Jimmy gets fully healthy, the most productive thing that can come out of this lost season is seeing how much of the offensive burden he is capable of handling. I want him to adopt J.R. Smith’s conscience and be super aggressive so he and the team can better figure out his role going forward.

-D.J. Augustin continues to distance himself from Marquis Teague. He’s not good, but as Bill Simmons likes to say, he does some stuff. He has decent athleticism and some semblance of range unlike Kirk Hinrich and when he’s on the court, he at least looks like he’s played basketball before, unlike Teague. If, God forbid, next year’s backup point guard is already on the roster, I feel confident in saying Augustin is the “best” choice among them.

-Speaking of Teague, I remain bullish that’s there an NBA player somewhere in there. However, he could develop and still not be the long-term backup for Chicago because they desperately need shooters and that above all is Teague’s weak spot at this point.

-This isn’t exactly hard-hitting analysis, but Chandler Parsons is really fun to watch, and so is Harden when he’s not driving with the sole purpose of drawing a foul.

-After another bad game, I’ve realized Carlos Boozer is like if Zach Randolph went soft in every way. Neither has any lift, so they’re struggling to finish at the rim as they age, but at least Z-Bo has toughness, physicality and is not to be messed with. There was a James Harden drive in the second quarter that I would screencap if the video were up on NBA.com where Harden drove right past Boozer, who had neither the size/athleticism to challenge the shot, nor the inclination, as he barely tried to do anything about it. Even when Taj Gibson is going through down stretches like he is at the moment, he at least brings the ability to alter shots and possibly make the defender reconsider a better plan of attack.

-Another random Boozer note: I feel like the Bulls never, ever recover a ball after it has deflected off of him. The sequence always ends with an opponent who had begun to retreat to defend getting the ball and Boozer clapping his hands in regret, and on occasion when it doesn’t go like that, he jumps up to get the ball and fumbles it out of bounds, as he did at one point tonight.

-Joakim Noah spiked the ball once and clearly wanted to later in the game for a second time before holding back. Other than Tom Thibodeau, the losing appears to be hitting Jo the hardest, which makes sense considering the passion with which he plays and that his previous eight basketball seasons featured seven postseason trips and two college championships.

-Going back to Thibs, I’m pretty curious if he’ll change his tune at all as the season goes on. He can’t fall back on his crutch phrases like “having enough to win with” because everyone knows they don’t. After a fuming Thibs gave his sideline interview after the first quarter, his friend Jeff Van Gundy noted that he has to respond in the way he did as he can’t simply say “We don’t have enough firepower,” but at some point he has to become gentler in his critiques. He might be the closest thing the NBA has to an NFL coach, but he’s no dummy. I think this season could be a valuable learning experience for him in terms of developing players rather than putting them through his personal Hunger Games and playing the guys left standing. Even the best coaches have to continue to grow and learn as they gain experience.

-Along those lines, Tony Snell clearly earned regular rotation time during his stay in the starting lineup and since Deng and Butler have returned, he’s barely gotten run outside of garbage time. C’mon Thibs, let the rookie play.

-After tonight, the Bulls sit a half game outside the playoff picture, with Cleveland, Brooklyn and New York likely to pass them in the coming games. If you’re pro-tanking like me, they are about to pass Cleveland, Brooklyn and New York, and only sit a couple games back of Orlando for third-worst in the East. The Bulls play on national TV again tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.

The post Recap: Bulls Blown Out In Houston appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Both squads in tonight’s game are big market teams battling injuries and deflecting rampant trade rumors, yet their respective trajectories could not be more opposite. The Rockets are 16-9, and look poised to add a couple rotation players via trade, while Chicago is essentially dead in the water, and possibly content with treading it for now.

In the obligatory Bulls injury update, Kirk Hinrich is out again tonight with his back injury. That means the dynamic duo of D.J. Augustin and Marquis Teague will be tasked with protecting the ball from defensive pest Patrick Beverley. Meanwhile, for Houston, James Harden will give it a go on a bad ankle but Jeremy Lin and rumored Celtic-to-be Omer Asik will sit this one with injuries of their own.

On the heels of Monday’s home loss to Orlando in which Luol Deng missed a game-tying layup, Tom Thibodeau vowed to have his team going back to basics and focus on said shots in practice. However, it may not matter much against Houston and Dwight Howard. Even Derrick Rose had a hard time evading the self-described Adonis, so none of the current Chicago perimeter players figure to have much success against him tonight, and whatever the odds are for number of rejected Carlos Boozer up-and-unders, take the over.

Now, from the perspective of a growing number of Bulls fans, all of these things are good in the long-term. With the second end of a back-to-back in Oklahoma City, the Bulls could “improve” to 9-16 and climb up the tanking charts. However, Houston is one of the most inconsistent contenders and who knows how Harden’s shifty game will be hampered by his ankle, so if the Bulls were to split these next two games, tonight is certainly their best shot at doing so.

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In ex-Chicago Bulls player news, Omer Asik of the Houston Rockets has formally requested to be traded. As some of you may recall Asik signed with the Rockets after the Chicago front office opted against matching Houston’s poison-pill contract offer during the 2012 offseason.

Asik’s request to be moved to another team has seemingly been inevitable since Dwight Howard decided to sign with the Houston Rockets this past offseason. Shortly after Howard made his decision, some reports began surfacing that Asik had requested a trade as he did not want to be relegated back into a backup role. Much to Asik’s chagrin the Rockets denied his request and he ultimately became the backup center.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Asik would not answer questions regarding his request. His agent, Andy Miller, did speak on the matter:

“I would say the situation is very frustrating right now, and we’re trying to work through it,” Miller said. “For Omer, the objective has always been to continue to develop and grow as a player. That’s why we came to Houston in the first place. If that objective can’t be met, if we can’t get the right platform to grow and contribute as a player, it’s certainly frustrating.”

Omer Asik doing his best G.O.B Bluth impression

During the 2012 NBA season, Asik started all 82 games for Houston averaging 10.1 points and 11.7 rebounds in 30 minutes of action per night. Relative to last season he is having a “down” year only averaging 5.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game. Asik’s contract is structured to pay him roughly $8.3 million for this season.

As of now a trade doesn’t seem to be imminent as “a deal is more likely in months than in days.” No players have recently been linked to an Asik trade, though whispers of a Ryan Anderson for Omer Asik swap have been mentioned in the past.

New Orleans has shown strong interest in acquiring Rockets center Omer Asik, w/ an offer likely centered on Ryan Anderson, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 6, 2013

It’s likely that a similar rumor will pop up within a matter of days.

Unfortunately Chicago likely does not have the pieces needed to reacquire Asik, nor would Asik likely want to come back to Chicago to play a backup role. Regardless the situation will be an interesting one to monitor. Asik was a once (and still is) a player loved by many Bulls fans and many simply want to see him in a position to succeed in a starting role if he can’t be in a Bulls jersey once again.

The post Omer Asik Asks For A Trade appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Chicago fans didn’t expect the Bulls to give them a lump of coal like this, not at home on Christmas Day against the team that used a contract with a “poison pill” to steal Omer Asik away from them last summer.

The numbers are painful to review. Better bite your lip before reading on.

Houston scored 120 points. That’s a season-high for Bulls opponents.

The Rockets had 31 fast break points and 66 points in the paint. They led by as many as 35 points.

Houston shot 56 percent from the field and 40 percent on threes. They went 20-for-24 at the line (83.3 percent). Their Effective Field Goal Percentage (61.0), True Shooting Percentage (64.8) and Offensive Rating (130.4 points per 100 possessions) were absurd.

As if that weren’t enough, the Rockets outrebounded the Bulls 45-31. That included a 10-7 edge in offensive rebounds. But the offensive rebounding situation was actually worse than the raw numbers indicate given the differences in the teams’ shooting percentages. Houston’s Offensive Rebounding Percentage (29.4) was almost comically better than Chicago’s (16.7).

Essentially, the Bulls were outworked and outclassed in every conceivable way.

Said Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau: “(We were) completely outplayed right from the start. My job is to have them ready and obviously we were not ready so that part’s on me … the thing is we had a bad fourth quarter in New York, we had a bad performance in Atlanta, and we followed it up today. So things can change very quickly in this league. If you’re not right and ready and you don’t have an edge, you’re not going to win without playing with the right amount of intensity.”

Nate Robinson — who at times seemed like the only Bulls player with a pulse last night — begged to differ.

Said Robinson: “It’s on us. It has nothing to do with coach. Coach does a great job of preparing us and getting us ready for the games. It’s all on us so we’re not going to let him take the blame on that and we got to do better (Wednesday) and we will.”

Little Nate was a ball of fire, scorching the Rockets for 27 points in 28 minutes while shooting 9-for-16 from the field, drilling four three-pointers and earning a team-best seven free throw attempts.

Unfortunately, Robinson’s energy wasn’t enough to snap the rest of the team out of their their collective defensive stupor.

Of course, this meltdown didn’t hit the Bulls out of nowhere like a bolt from the blue. It seems to have started last Friday in New York when the Knicks dropped 45 points on them in the fourth quarter. It continued the next night in Atlanta when the Hawks beat the Bulls like a red-headed step child.

Those five quarters of basketball were about as un-Bulls-like as they come. I figured they would come out ready last night. No team wants to get punked at home on Christmas. No way that was going to happen.

But here we are. And — more good news! — Luol Deng has a sprained ankle and is questionable for tonight’s game in Indiana.

Making matters even worse was Asik’s performance: 20 points, 18 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 1 assist and a game-best plus-minus score of +41 in 35 minutes. Omer so thoroughly outplayed presumed All-Star-to-be Joakim Noah (8 points, 9 rebounds, 5 turnovers, -20) that the Bulls front office probably would have agreed to a mid-game trade if such a thing had been possible.

When the Bulls made a mini-run in the fourth, Asik was there, clogging up the paint and intimidating any Bulls player who dared to make googly eyes at the rim.

Said Houston coach Kevin McHale: “Omer is a big-time player in the middle. Tonight he was blocking shots, getting rebounds and outletting the ball for us. He’s got a big body and sets wide picks for us. This was a very good game for him.”

Asik was 9-for-13 from the field. As you can see, all but one of those shot attempts were right at the rim.

Said Noah: “I think he was great just rolling to the basket, off pick and rolls. They play four out, one in, and he was able to get a lot of easy things around the rim. I think we should have fouled him more around the rim, made him earn it a little bit more around the rim but he played very well.”

Fouling Asik might have helped. But when an opposing team has 31 fast break points and 66 points in the paint, forcing a poor foul shooter to hit a couple free throws probably wouldn’t have made that much of a difference.

James Harden (26 points, 7-for-13 from the field, 11-for-13 at the line), Jeremy Lin (20 points, 8-for-12, 11 assists) and Chandler Parsons (23 points, 9-for-15 from the field, 4-for-5 on threes) all took turns lighting the Bulls up. The defense wasn’t just bad. It was embarrassing. The effort an intensity just wasn’t there.

Said Thibs: “If you are not right and don’t have an edge, you are not going to win without the right amount of intensity. They completely outplayed us from the start.”

There’s not much more you can say. And there’s not much more you can say about the loss.

Tonight’s game against the Pacers will be a real gut check.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-by-Play, Shot Chart.

The post Game Recap: Rockets 120, Bulls 97 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Thinks I liked:
It was nice to see the team bounce back with a spirited effort after two straight lopsided defeats. The Bulls shot 50 percent as a team, won the rebounding battle 49-37 (including 15-8 on the offensive glass), ran out for 18 fast break points, and scored 54 points in the paint.

It was very nice to see Carlos Boozer get into a flow on offense. Boozer scored 25 points by shooting 9-for-15 from the field and 7-for-10 from the line. He also grabbed 9 rebounds. In this game, Carlos looked like what management brought him in to be: A second scoring threat to compliment (and take pressure off of) Derrick Rose.

Speaking of Rose, it was great to see him get back to the near-MVP-level form he was playing at before Boozer made his debut. Derrick was definitely sub-par against the Magic and Celtics. I felt like he was too concerned about trying to get Boozer involved. Don’t get me wrong. As the team’s point guard and best player, it’s Rose’s job to set up his teammates…but not at the expense of his own aggressiveness.

Well, Rose was aggressive last night, finishing with game-highs in points (30), assists (11) and steals (5). And let’s not forget the clutch three-pointer that sent the game to overtime.

Regarding Derrick’s assist total: With Boozer in the lineup, Rose has more weapons than he’s ever had. I think we can expect him to keep racking up the assists on a consistent basis.

I was also glad to see Joakim Noah get back to being Joakim Noah. It wasn’t just his numbers — 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocked shots, a steal — he was just generally more active in pursuing rebounds and doing the dirty work than he was against Orlando and Boston.

Things I didn’t like:
The Rockets scored 109 points in regulation and 116 points overall. Too many points to give up.

For the second straight night, the Bulls were burned by an opposing power forward. On Friday, Kevin Garnett went off for 20 points and 17 rebounds. On Saturday, Luis Scola had 27 points (9-for-18 from the field and 9-for-12 from the line) and 8 rebounds.

Chicago committed 19 turnovers and gave up 36 free throw attempts.

The Bulls continue to give up big threes. Courtney Lee went 2-for-2 and Brad Miller drilled four treys. These terrible triples seem to come off slow or missed rotations.

Speaking of Big Brad, he blindsided the Bullies with 20 points off the Rockets bench. He scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter, including an “And 1!” and two three-pointers. Fortunately, he bricked a free throw with 10 seconds left that limited Houston’s lead to three and setting up Rose’s heroics. Thanks, Brad.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Game 18 Recap: Bulls 119, Rockets 116 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Wow.

When Rose got benched because of his fourth foul with 5:31 left in the third quarter, the Bulls were leading 60-58. By the time coach Tom Thibodeu subbed him back in to start the fourth, Chicago had fallen behind 71-63 and the Rockets seemed to have all the momentum on their side. Honestly, the Bulls couldn’t have looked any more discombobulated.

Then Rose got ’em “combobulated” again.

On the Bulls first possession of the fourth quarter, he drilled a three-pointer. Two possessions later, he knocked down another three. On the possession after that, Derrick assisted on a triple by Luol Deng. Next possession, he drove in for a layup, drew the foul, and converted the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play. Two possessions later, he hit an 11-foot bank shot off a crafty drive. On the next possession, he splashed home yet another three-pointer.

I was half-waiting for him to turn toward the scorer’s table and shrug. I mean, Rose catching fire from downtown? We’re talking about a 25 percent career three-point shooter who came into last night’s game 7-for-29 on the season. Well, the 1991-92 Portland Trail Blazers didn’t think MJ could beat them with threes. The 2010-11 Rockets probably thought the same thing about Rose.

They were wrong.

And just like that, the Bulls were up 81-71 and in control of their own destiny. I’m not saying the game was over. It wasn’t. Not by a long shot. The Rockets are a scrappy team and Brad Miller — who scored 9 of his 21 points down the stretch — reminded Bulls fans of why losing him in the offseason was a bit of a bummer. And Ronnie Brewer had a personal meltdown in crunch time, missing two free throws (three, actually, but the Rockets were called for a lane violation), bricking a wide open jumper and committing three turnovers.

Overall, Brewer may have had his best game of the season (11 points, 5-for-7, 3 steals) and the Bulls were +16 when he was on the floor. But man, I thought he’d changed sides in the last few minutes.

Still, Rose — who scored 33 points (13-for-20) to go along with 7 assists and 3 steals — saved the Bulls on a night when Luol Deng (6-for-21), Taj Gibson (1-for-9) and Joakim Noah (a team-worst plus-minus score of -18) just couldn’t seem to get it going. Derrick received some timely help from Brewer, Omer Asik (6 points, 5 rebounds, +16) and especially Kyle Korver (10 points, 3-for-5, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals).

No doubt about it. Chicago’s bench came up huge.

And it’s a good thing too. Particularly considering the Bulls nearly choked this game away with missed foul shots (13 of them), turnovers (20 of them) and points given up off turnovers (29 of them). Chicago was also outscored in the paint 44-39 despite the ongoing absence of Yao Ming.

But sometimes having a superstar and a spark off the bench will get you through.

The Bulls are going to need both — and then some — tonight in San Antonio.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos.

The post Circus Trip: Bulls 95, Rockets 92 appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

Yes. I went there.

This game could indeed be a trap.

On paper, the Bulls appear the better team. They’ve won three in a row and lead the Central Division at 5-3. After an up-and-down start, Chicago has steadily improved and currently rank 5th in PPG (105.0), 8th in Pace (96.1), 7th in Defensive Rating (103.2), 12th in Offensive Rating (107.9) and 13th in Opponents PPG (100.4).

The Rockets are 3-6 and 5th in the Southwest Division. They rank 23rd in Defensive Rating (108.2) and 29th in Opponents PPG (107.7).

The flip side? They run the court and score points. Houston is 3rd in Pace (98.4), 4th in PPG (107.7), and 10th in Offensive Rating (108.2). After opening the season 0-6, they’ve scored 100 or more points in four of their last five games — including 120 or more twice — and won three of the five.

Of course, those wins came against the Timberwolves (3-9), Pacers (4-4) and Knicks (3-7). And the Rockets will be without the services of Yao Ming (sprained left ankle), Aaron Brooks (ditto) and Chase Buddinger (ditto again). Brooks and Ming are the team’s third an fourth leading scorers, respectively, and Brooks leads the team in assists.

In theory, those absences should more than balance out the loss of Kyle Korver, who could miss the game with a sore right knee. After all, they’ve got the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week in Derrick Rose.

Said Rose: “[Losing Korver] would hurt a lot, He’s a good player. He brings a lot of energy and a lot of scoring when he comes in the game. We need him, but we can’t use that as an excuse. We still have to go out there and play the game.”

Still, history seems to be against the Bulls. They haven’t won a road game yet this season — dropping games in Oklahoma City and Boston — and they are 10-61 on the circus trip since Michael Jordan retired in 1998. Last year, they went 1-5 on the trip.

And the Rockets are used to playing without key players.

The Bulls have to be careful. That starts with valuing the basketball…something Chicago hasn’t excelled at this season. The Bulls rank 22nd in Turnover Percentage and have had a tendency to give the ball away too often this season. With a running team like Houston, that could be deadly. Fortunately, the Rockets rank 30th in Opponents Turnover Percentage, so they don’t force a lot of miscues.

The Bulls must also avoid committing fouls, which was a problem in the early going. It could be a problem tonight, as the Rockets rank 4th in Free Thows Per Field Goal Attempt. Kevin Martin — Houston’s leading scorer at 24.1 PPG — averages 9.1 free throw attempts.

Look, this game is extremely important. At best, it’s probably the second most winnable game not only of the cirus trip but of the next nine games. In case you didn’t know it, the trip — during which the Bulls face the Rockets, Spurs (8-1 and second night of back-to-backs), Mavericks (7-2), Lakers (8-2), Suns (6-4 and second night of back-to-backs), Nuggets (5-5) and Kings (3-6 second night of back-to-backs) — is followed by a home game against the Magic (7-3) and another roadie in Boston (8-2).

That’s an absolutely brutal nine-game stretch. I’m not trying to be a doubter. But — especially if Korver misses extended time with his knee injury — I could see the Bulls going 3-6 or even 2-7 during this stretch. Going from 5-3 to (in theory) 7-10 would be a real blow.

Which, again, emphasizes the importance of tonight’s game. The Bulls always need to beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. But doing so this time is absolutely critical.

The post Circus Trip: Bulls-Rockets Preview appeared first on Bulls By The Horns.

After losing 10 games in a row, they’ve won two straight. After 12 consecutive games of allowing 100 or more points, they’ve allowed 92, 84 and 88 in their last three. Coach Vinny Del Negro got so fired up over a few iffy calls during last night’s home game against the Rockets that he rushed out on the court and got himself ejected. Mind you, the Bulls were leading by 10 at the time.

Said Del Negro: “I have to do a better job staying in the game, but sometimes you have to get your team going and let them know the importance of this stuff. I have a lot of confidence in my staff and I know the players, Kirk is a coach on the floor, Derrick Rose, so I felt comfortable. I just thought we needed to get a little bit of a fair shake at times.”

I guess Vinny learned his lesson from the Kirk Hinrich incident.

You know who else was fired up? Derrick freaking Rose. Man, this dude has been on fire the last two games. Against Houston, Rose finished with game highs in points (27) and assists (8) and even added 7 rebounds and a blocked shot. He was also fantastic in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-5 from the field (including a three-pointer) and dishing out a couple assists. The only blight on his clutch performance was bricking two free throws with 43 seconds left and the Bulls leading by only six points (92-86).

Still…Derrick was awesome.

Said Rose: “I have to give it all I got. Tomorrow we don’t play so, why not give it your all?”

Regarding Rose, Houston’s Shane Battier said: “If there is a weakness in his game it would be his consistency on his shot. He got 27 and it was pretty much all jump shots from the elbow or 3-pointers. He gets those down and that’s why he’s an All-Star.”

Battier isn’t wrong. Rose did most of his damage from 16 feet and out. He was feeling so confident in his jump shot that he attempted a career-high seven three-pointers. His previous career high was six attempts…last Saturday against the Sixers. Prior to the last two games, Rose had never attempted for than five threes in a game — and that happened during the first month of his rookie season — and he hadn’t taken more than two in any game this season.

Seriously, if Derrick starts canning threes with regularity, how will anyone be able to stop him?

Anyway, it was a big win for the Bulls. Of course, the Rockets were without their defensive stopper, Shane Battier, who sprained his left knee against the Knicks on Sunday. They also lost Jared Jeffries (who strained his left Achilles tendon in the third quarter) and rookie Jordan Hill (who sprained his left ankle early in the fourth). So Chicago had at least a little good fortune going their way in this victory.

I think they’ll take it. The Bulls have had their share of misfortune lately.

Extras:
Recap, Box Score, Advanced Box Score, Play-By-Play, Shot Chart, Photos

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