LDN - Sports

D'Antoni gets 500th win as Rockets top Bulls

[March 11, 2017] CHICAGO -- Despite a slow start, the Houston Rockets made sure coach Mike D'Antoni got his 500th career NBA coaching win Friday night at the United Center.

The Rockets overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit by dominating the next two quarters and cruised to a 115-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls, avoiding their first three-game losing streak of the season.

"I've been around for a long time," said D'Antoni, who joins Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Rick Carlisle and Nate McMillan as the only active coaches with 500 wins. "I've had some good teams, and this is one of my best. Tonight, we started out slow in that first quarter, but we found a way to turn it around. We play better offensively when we play some defense."

That was the case in the middle two quarters for the Rockets (45-21), who outscored the Bulls 69-30 in the second and third.

"That first quarter, we gave up too many points," said guard James Harden, who led Houston with 19 points and 13 assists. "So, in the second quarter and third quarter we just locked in, stuck to our principles, did the right things and gained ground from there."

The Rockets swept the two-game season series from the Bulls (31-34), who hit just nine of their franchise-record 39 shots from behind the 3-point line.

Also scoring in double figures for Houston were Lou Williams with 18 points, Clint Capela with 17 points, Trevor Ariza with 13 and Ryan Anderson, who finished with 21 points after missing a game with back spasms.

Trailing 49-47 with 2:58 left in the second quarter, Houston outscored Chicago 17-0 in the next 4:29 -- lapsing into the third. The Rockets outscored the Bulls 45-14 from that point late in the second through the end of the third to lead 92-63.

"Obviously, they have a lot of weapons," said Anderson, who was 7 of 15 from the floor and 6 of 12 from behind the 3-point line. "We wanted to have a big emphasis on defense and running. We're at our best when we get stops and run. Once we started making some shots, you could tell it was deflating for them."

Dwyane Wade had 21 points in his return from a two-game injury absence to lead the Bulls, but it wasn't enough to keep them from losing their season-high fourth straight game.

"They are a team that can get going in a hurry and can get hot," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "They did that, and obviously we didn't respond well."

Jimmy Butler added 16 points and Cameron Payne had 11 off the bench for Chicago, which fell to ninth in the Eastern Conference after the Milwaukee Bucks moved past the Bulls with a 99-85 win over the Indiana Pacers.

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Bulls guard Dwyane Wade (3) drives around Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first quarter at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago has a road back-to-back up next at the Boston Celtics on Sunday and Charlotte Hornets on Monday.

"It is no secret this is a team preparing for the future and also trying to make the playoffs," Wade said. "We are going to take some lumps on some nights, and some nights we are going to win. We need to figure out a way to bounce back against Boston and Charlotte, and we will see what happens."

The Bulls got off to a great start, shooting 14 of 23 in the first quarter (60.9 percent). Wade had 12 points in the first and 21 at the half but didn't score in the second half. Butler had 10 points at the half.

The Rockets, who head home to play the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, began their charge in the second quarter. Harden and Williams led the way. Williams scored eight points in the first 7:20 of the quarter and Harden scored six of his 13 first-half points in a 9-0 run during the final 2:08.

Getting D'Antoni his milestone win was a motivating factor.

"It's important," Harden said. "It's a great accomplishment. He's been doing it so long, and he's had a lot of wins, so 500's important. We poured a little water on him tonight to celebrate that, but we're just happy to be a part of all these wins."

NOTES: F Bobby Portis made his ninth start of the season for Chicago, which is 4-5 in games he starts. ... Bulls G Dwyane Wade went through a full shootaround session Friday morning and played after missing two games with a left quadriceps strain. ... Houston assigned F/C Chinanu Onuaku and G Isaiah Taylor to the D-League. ... Rockets G James Harden had scored 30-plus points in three straight games but finished with 19 points. ... Harden sprained an ankle late in the first quarter but said he's fine.

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