Houston Rockets 87 – Chicago Bulls 111 (Recap)

Mar 13, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball against Chicago Bulls forward Mike Dunleavy (34) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

For the second time in the month of March the Houston Rockets lose. This time the Chicago Bulls were responsible winning in a blowout 111-87. After losing on Tuesday to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets traveled to Chicago but once again left there offense, and defense somewhere else.

The Bulls were ready to play from the start Thursday, jumping out to an 18-10 lead eight minutes into the game behind 10 points from Boozer.

They never trailed in the first half, taking a 50-42 halftime advantage.

Any thoughts of a Houston comeback were quickly dismissed at the start of the second half when the Bulls opened the third quarter with 16 straight points for a 66-42 edge. The final 12 points of the run came on four straight 3-pointers by Mike Dunleavy and Kirk Hinrich.

McHale says Rockets were out of it from the start. “They kicked our ass in every aspect of the game, up one side and down the other.”

Jeremy Lin led Houston with 21 points, while Dwight Howard had 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 turnovers in 28 minutes. James Harden had eight points on 2-for-7 shooting in 27 minutes. Chandler Parsons had once of his worst shooting nights of the season going 1-11, finishing with 2 points.

Before Thursday, the Rockets were 13-3 since February, 1 and had won four straight against the Bulls.

Up next for the Rockets are the Miami Heat on Sunday on ABC from Miami. If losing two in a row was bad, then trying to break the losing streak in Miami on Sunday is worse. Rockets have not lost three straight games at any point this season.