Chicago Bulls (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
Last time the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets met, Billy Donovan’s crew was the face of the beginning of a historical streak. The Rockets were then 1-16 before pulling off an improbable win over the Bulls.
From there, Houston ripped off seven wins in a row. You could say that victory is what changed the whole season for the Rockets.
Monday night, though, should be much different. The Rockets (10-20) face a Bulls team that’s 18-10 and coming off a big victory over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Sure, it’s a back-to-back, but the Bulls are still considerably fresh.
It was a win that saw DeRozan go off in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of his 38 in that period. Once again, DeRozan proved why he is the best fourth quarter scorer in all of basketball. The last meeting against Houston, however, DeRozan wasn’t up to snuff.
Chicago Bulls star DeMar DeRozan should be in for a bigger night against the Houston Rockets.
In the Bulls’ loss to Houston earlier this year, DeRozan only scored 17 points on 6-for-19 shooting. Tonight, he’s coming in fairly well-rested after missing two weeks and showing up big time against Los Angeles.
Last meeting, the Rockets enjoyed an unusually great shooting night as they finished 50 percent from the field and made 17 from beyond the arc. The Bulls had a tough time staying with Houston’s shooting from start to finish.
Since the Rockets’ 7-game winning streak ended, they are just 2-4 and most recently topped the Detroit Pistons.
DeRozan enters this second meeting with Houston averaging 26.8 points per game, good for fifth in the NBA this season. The Bulls will still be without Zach LaVine, who also finds himself in the top-10 in scoring.
LaVine will be out through Christmas, still coming back from health and safety protocols. After the Bulls’ win over the Lakers, DeRozan said he texted LaVine, “get your a** back” as soon as he possibly can. DeRozan also mentioned how much easier LaVine makes it on him when they’re both in the lineup.
DeRozan and LaVine remain the NBA’s top scoring duo, and one has to imagine that once they’re reunited on the court, they will continue to keep that top spot.
Monday night, it will be mostly on DeRozan again, though. For at least a couple more games, DeRozan will have to shoulder the weight and keep up his extraordinary effort. The Bulls are currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference, just behind the Brooklyn Nets — whom they have beaten twice already this season.
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