CHICAGO (670 The Score) – Apparently, 12 is the maximum number of consecutive quarters in which the Bulls can play good, hard, focused basketball with proper execution.
Unfortunately for the Bulls, they reached their limit in a 133-118 loss to the Western Conference-worst Rockets on Monday evening at the United Center. After playing well in a three-game winning streak that followed locker room bickering, Chicago reverted to bad habits against Houston (10-23), which entered the day 3-13 on the road.
The Rockets raced out to an 18-point lead fewer than five minutes into the game, hung 39 points in the first quarter and often got whatever they wanted offensively in shooting 55.6%.
"We got to play with more of a sense of urgency and edge out of the gate," said Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan, who scored a team-high 31 points. "Especially understanding the road we've been on, we've got to feed off that momentum and understand every single game is bigger than the last."
At issue for the Bulls on Monday was their defense, which also plagued them on Dec. 18, when they were embarrassed in a 150-126 loss to the Timberwolves, a contest in which frustrated players got into a heated verbal exchange at halftime. Chicago responded with three straight hard-fought, hard-earned road wins that were marked by better on-ball defense and tighter rotations.
That wasn't the case against the Rockets, who converted five layups/dunks in the first six minutes Saturday and had 22 points in the paint in the first 12 minutes. The Bulls were playing shorthanded without guard Alex Caruso, forward Javonte Green and forward Derrick Jones Jr. – arguably their three most active defenders – though coach Billy Donovan didn't use that as any type of excuse.
"It was a combination of our physicality on the ball, getting over screens," Donovan said in pinpointing the Bulls' defensive woes. "Our bigs having to stay in coverage a little bit longer to get the ball under control, the ball going into the middle of the floor and us in rotation.
"Whatever you have out there group-wise, there's enough there to win in my opinion. We've got to be better defensively. We've got to coach it better and help them more."
Despite their early struggles, the Bulls went on a 12-0 run late in the second quarter and took a one-point lead into halftime. They then stretched their lead to seven early in the third quarter before their defense cratered again.
"They just played freely," DeRozan of the young Rockets. "They were just out there doing whatever they wanted to do. Give credit to them. They hit a lot of tough shots. But for the most part, we let them get on the run. And a team like that, they don't know no better. Once they see a couple go it, they are going to shoot anything and think it's going to go in. That's what happened. We didn't give no resistance to make them second-guess any of their shots."
The Bulls dropped to 14-19 with their loss and continue to sit in 11th place in the East. The task doesn't get easier as they welcome the Bucks (22-11) to the United Center on Wednesday.
"We've got to show that we can sustain it," Donovan said. "We've shown glimpses that we can.
"That's the challenge for our team, is we've got to find ways to sustain and have the stamina and the endurance to do it night after night after night. And that's not to sit there and say (you're not going to have) bad nights or bad games. That happens. But you've got to be able to collectively rely on your defense to give yourselves a chance every night."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
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