Houston Rockets at Chicago Bulls: Game Preview

The Houston Rockets head to Windy City tonight in a must-win, gotta have it-type game against the Bulls.

You ever hit your head on a moving fan and come away with a dull, annoying pain, thinking “Well that was unpleasant and unnecessary”? That is the current mood of the Houston Rockets after their most recent two-game skid.

It doesn’t get much easier tonight. On paper, this Chicago Bulls team seems less than stellar. They currently sit at 8th in the Eastern Conference at 31-33 and are riding a losing streak of their own, recently falling to the Orlando Magic in a game where Elfrid Payton did his best Russell Westbrook impression with a 22/14/14 night.

But as we all know, the game isn’t won or lost on paper. And this is the exact type of team against which the Rockets love to let games fall through their fingertips. They have struggled against what we would consider “average teams” in the Eastern Conference, losing 7 out of 10 against the Heat, Hawks, Pacers, Pistons, and Bucks. The OT thriller win against the Bulls came on a night Jimmy Butler didn’t even suit up. So there’s that.

We all love it when the threes are raining down on us, but for Moreyball to be effective, we kind of have to get the round orange ball in the circle thing with the nets. In games where Houston has hit less than 10 threes, they a grand total of zero wins.

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Lou Williams came in to Houston on an absolute tear but has since come crashing down, 3-20 from the field in his last two outings. Eric Gordon is also in a bit of a rut from beyond the arc, 4-14 over the last two games.

Also, the Beard actually went 0-8 from deep against the Jazz, so lots of Rockets are struggling. Houston will be desperate to get into a rhythm early tonight.

The Utah Jazz are nipping at Houston’s heels now, only 3 games behind for the third seed that they’ve held onto all year. It would be a killer to lose it, so the Rockets should be in playoff mode from here on. Should be a good one tonight folks, so grab your popcorn.

P.S. My good friend and Bulls fanatic is getting in from Chicago tomorrow and this game will go a long way to see if he’s walking from the airport or not. If the Rockets drop three in a row, I may not be in the mood to Uber.

Next: Top 5 Small Forwards in Houston Rockets History

Tip-off is at 8:00 PM CST and can be seen on Root Sports Southwest Network. Lastly, stay tuned to Space City Scoop for postgame analysis and other Houston Rockets news!

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