It wasn’t nearly as bad as the final score indicated. Two nights after an impressive preseason opener against these same Chicago Bulls, the Houston Rockets weren’t quite as sharp in the rematch. But despite some sloppy ball handling and an at-times porous defense, Houston took a 79-73 lead into the final frame.
But with Eric Gordon, John Wall, and DeMarcus Cousins all done for the night by that point, new head coach Stephen Silas decided to give his young guys a chance to close it out in the fourth, and they simply didn’t respond, scoring just 12 total points in the final quarter, victimized by a 15-0 Chicago run that sent the Rockets to 104-91 defeat.