The Houston Rockets came in on Monday hoping that an unexpected break (thanks to two postponements related to a winter storm) would allow them to hit the reset button after a long losing streak.
Against Zach LaVine and the Bulls, it was not quite like that. Spurred on by a 46-point eruption in the third quarter, Chicago (14-16) won for the fourth time in five games with the 120-100 explosion (box score) on Monday at the Toyota Center. It is the eighth straight loss for the Rockets (11-18), all since Christian Wood’s new right ankle injury.
The last time Houston had a losing streak longer than eight games was a player of 15 at the beginning of the 2000-01 season.
LaVine led Chicago’s balanced effort with 21 points and hit 4 out of 6 out of 3 points (66.7%). Meanwhile, team-mate Coby White scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds. David Nwaba led Houston with 22 points, which tied the best of his career, and 9 rebounds.
The Rockets again had an insufficient team, with two starters absent in Wood and Victor Oladipo (right foot strain). Still, the regular players who played were not good enough. Veteran guard John Wall (15 points, 7 assists) hit only 4 out of 14 overall (28.6%), while Eric Gordon (13 points) hit 5 out of 18 (27.8%) and 1 out of 10 out of 3 – hands (10.0%).
Houston returns to action on Wednesday in Cleveland, with the complaint set for 6:30 pm central time. For now, here’s a collection of highlights and post-game reactions from Monday’s bad showing.
Stephen Silas
David Nwaba
Eric Gordon