Preview: Rockets at Bulls

[March 05, 2016]  The Chicago Bulls and the Houston Rockets were both dark horse picks to make the NBA finals before the season started, and both are now struggling just to stay in the postseason race in their respective conferences. The Bulls will try to snap a four-game slide that has dropped them out of the top eight in the East when they host the Rockets on Saturday.

Chicago was embarrassed on the defensive end in a 129-111 loss at Miami on Tuesday in which the Heat shot a franchise-record 67.5 percent from the floor and could not pull itself up off the mat after falling behind by 10 points by the end of the first quarter in a 102-89 loss at Orlando the next night. “It’s defense, it’s communication. It’s nothing but defense,” Bulls guard Derrick Rose told reporters. “It’s something that we’re trying to figure out.” That same sentiment could be expressed about Houston, which was allowing an average of 113.3 points over a seven-game stretch before tightening up enough on that end to earn a 100-95 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. The Rockets are still one game under .500 but are holding on to the No. 8 spot in the West thanks to Utah’s recent slump.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (30-31): Houston was nearly as bad on the defensive end Monday in Milwaukee as Chicago was the next night in Miami, allowing the Bucks to shoot 59.3 percent in a 128-121 loss. The Rockets did a better job of defending the wings at home against New Orleans on Wednesday and picked up the win despite going 3-of-34 from 3-point range. “There were open shots, too,” Houston interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters. “We had a ton of open looks. Those are shots we work on every day, and to be able to win a game when you shoot eight percent from the 3-point line and turn it over 21 times. There is something we must have done right.”

ABOUT THE BULLS (30-30): Chicago added power forward Taj Gibson (hamstring) to its lengthy injury list on Wednesday and is now in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007-08. Rose, who guided the Bulls to the playoffs while earning Rookie of the Year honors in the 2008-09 campaign and has never missed the postseason as a professional, seemed lost after the latest setback. “All this is new to me,” Rose told reporters. “Just trying to figure things out. Thoughts, plays, everything is going everywhere. Just overload mentally, but we’ve got to figure it out.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Rockets reportedly signed PF Michael Beasley and G Andrew Goudelock for the remainder of the season.

2. Bulls SF Doug McDermott has scored in double figures in seven straight games.

3. The Rockets have taken five of the last seven in the series.

PREDICTION: Bulls 113, Rockets 111

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