One like and dislike from the Chicago Bulls loss vs. the Houston Rockets

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Houston Rockets 118-86 Tuesday in the Toyota Center. Here’s my one like and dislike from the game.

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Houston Rockets 118-86 Tuesday in the Toyota Center. The Rockets won the season series 2-0. They won the two games by a combined 41 points.

Tank-o-meter

The Chicago Bulls have a 24-50 record after their loss to the Rockets. They have the eighth worst record in the league and are 5.5 games back of the worst record in the league.

Fun Fact #1

The Chicago Bulls loss to the Rockets marked their 50th loss of the 2017-18 season. This mean the Bulls are guaranteed to finish with their worst regular season record since the 2003-04 campaign, when they went 23-59.

Fun Fact #2

Center Cristiano Felicio’s double-digit scoring streak ended at five games. Felicio scored zero points in his 11 minutes against the Rockets.

Dislike: Everything after 7:41 left in the first quarter

I really don’t want to harp on this loss by the Chicago Bulls. The Rockets have the best record in the league for a reason. They’re supremely more talented than the Bulls, even without center Clint Capela and MVP frontrunner guard James Harden.

But man, being outscored by 24 points over the last 31:41 of game time is rarely going to be pretty. The Chicago Bulls struggled to create a cohesive offensive flow after forward Lauri Markkanen, the player of the game, carried them in the first quarter with 14 points. They shot 34 percent from the field and 15 percent from beyond the arc after guard Justin Holiday made a layup to trail the Rockets 40-32. The Chicago Bulls deficit grew to as much as 40 points at one point. Luckily, the Bulls trimmed the lead down to a more respectable 30 points.

The Chicago Bulls barely stood a chance against the Rockets. The Bulls especially didn’t stand a chance after Markkanen’s scoring flurry ended. The better team, and one of the most lethal teams in the NBA, won the game and did so in convincing fashion. There’s not a lot more to it.

So, for fun, let’s watch this simple yet beautiful ball movement the Rockets displayed.

Like: Markkanen’s scoring flurry

Markkanen came out of the gates aggressive and put the brunt of the scoring load on his back in the opening quarter. His 14 points in the first quarter were the most amount of points he’s scored in a quarter in his short career.

The rookie forward out of the University of Arizona scored in a variety of ways. He displayed his impressive range and went 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. He exploited the Rockets’ switching scheme and took advantage of having Rockets guard Eric Gordon guard him in the post. Markkanen even gave Rockets center Nene Hilario the business down low.

Markkanen finished the game with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. It was another impressive showing from the Finnisher.