On March 22, Beijing time, the 2023-24 NBA regular season was in full swing, and the Houston Rockets hosted the Chicago Bulls. The Rockets have been in excellent form recently, winning consecutive battles, and have won a wave of 6 consecutive wins. The young players on the roster are also cashing in on their talents in the fast lane, with Jalen Green scoring back-to-back high scores to be named Player of the Week. Amen Thompson also played with the top talent of the high show. At present, the Rockets are 33-35 and ranked 11th in the West, and if they maintain the current forward momentum, it is not a dream to overtake the Warriors or even the Lakers to get a playoff ticket. The Bulls have recently won two in a row and are currently in ninth place in the East with 34 wins and 35 losses.
The game went into a timeout 11 seconds into the first quarter, and Vucevic got his right eye in a scrum. After the pause, Jalen Green scored the first goal with a pick-up, and the battle was 4-4, and the Bulls opened up the difference in a wave; Amen Thompson scored 2+1 at the critical moment, and then assisted Dillon to hit a 3-point equalizer! The battle reached 21-22, and the Rockets began to work hard to open up the difference! After a wave of offensive attacks that were almost 100 shots, the difference was stretched to 16 points! At the end of the first quarter, the Rockets led 42-28;
In the second quarter, DeRozan leaned back and hit the first shot, Smith scored 2+1, Jeff Green scored 3 points, and Landale made a basket, and the difference came to 19 points! But after that, the Rockets' scoring momentum slowed down, and the Bulls used the advantage of the inside twin towers to narrow the difference, and after another wave of 16-4, the difference came to 3 points! The Rockets asked for a timeout; after the timeout, the Rockets withstood the Bulls' counterattack, and they still led by 7 points at halftime 68-61;
Dosum took the lead in hitting a 3-point shot, Caruso hit 2 free throws, and the difference came to 2 points! At the critical moment, Dillon scored 3 points and shot through the heart, Dosum responded with 3 points, and Dillon retreated and hit a jumper! After that, the two teams went back and forth, and the difference remained around 4 points; the battle reached 73-76, and the Rockets made a slight effort to open up the difference. Amen Thompson made a layup to make it 2+1, DeRozan scored a layup, Dillon hit a 3-pointer, and the difference came to 9 points! After watching the replay, the referee awarded DeRozan a second-degree malicious foul, and Dillon was ejected for his second technical foul!At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets led by 11 points at 105-94;
The final quarter continued, the two sides came up and played iron continuously, Craig hit a 3-point shot, and the difference came to single digits! At the critical moment, Landale hit a shot, Craig broke through to the layup and hit again, and Bullock responded with a 3-pointer; After that, the Bulls once again sacrificed a two-tower lineup, Dillon has been off the court, and the time has come to test the other players of the Rockets! Vucevic threw and hit, A-Holiday broke through the basket and scored, Jalen Green counterattacked and dunked again, the difference came to double digits, and the Bulls were stopped! After the timeout, the Rockets continued to open up the difference, and Jeff Green hit a free throw, and the difference came to 18 points! In the end, there was no suspense, and the Rockets defeated the Bulls 127-117 to win seven in a row, and continued to chase the Warriors in front of them.
Statistics:
Rockets: Jalen Green 26 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Dillon 23 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals, Thompson 15 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Smith 5 points and 7 boards, VanVleet 9 points, 3 rebounds and 12 assists, Jeff Green 14 points and 7 boards, Landale 17 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks, Holiday 15 points and 3 boards;
Bulls: DeRozan 16 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Craig 10 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, Vucevic 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists, Caruso 12 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists, Dosum 35 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, White 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Zhuang Shen 9 points and 8 boards.