(23-11)@(16-18)
'T-Mac explodes'
Chicago Bulls were in the good mood after recent practise that seemingly was one of the key factors in recent increase in team chemistry as many players did not feel threatened by trades anymore.
Nevertheless, the Bulls were not the only team in a good mood. The Rockets started off the game strong by abusing Bulls players hard time guarding good guard players. McGrady was the most active with ten points while Sura supported with eight.
Rockets, Welcome to United Center
The battle between Yao and Ben Wallace was also evident from the moment the game started, with Yao taking control. While Big Ben scored six points by overplaying Yao who had trouble guarding him, it was Yao who actually dominated on court.
The Bulls had a terrible perfomance in the second quarter. Seems like the young Bulls have hard time finding consistency, and while they lost the first quarter by eight points, in the second quarter, with T-Macs three-pointer buzzer-beater nailing the loss to twenty two points. Bulls failed to find the rythm and had hard time with ball possession, gathering up turnovers.
Tracy McGrady had gathered no less than thirty four points by the halftime.
Dunk of the day. The week. The month!
It is quite amazing that Rockets managed to score thirty eight in the quarter. Being the most-scoring team in the league definetly showed the Bulls that there's truth to the stat sheets.
Third quarter was one where the Bulls tried to stop the bleeding yet were not able to do so. While their shot selection improved it seemed as if the spirit had left the United Center. Thankfully it returned by the fourth quarter, even though alot of it was played against Rockets bench.
Bulls matched Rockets 38 points scored earlier, in final quarter. The game was more loose by that point and players found many open shots and all it took was a steady shot to take advantage. While definetly lifting the Bulls and it's fans spirits, the loss was a bitter one.
Kirk Hinrich starting Bulls fourth quarter run
89-112, the Bulls lose yet again.
It is interesting to note that Rockets seems to be the team that deals with Bulls no matter whom they put on court, the first matchup between the two in this season also ended with 110-128 loss.
Looking at the statistics it is hard to see how it happened. Scott Skiles really needs to focus on players defence, it has become obvious that the Bulls, while having one of the best shooting backcourt, they fail at defence. Kirk Hinrich has trouble against strong guards and Ben Gordon is at height disadvantage. The Bulls perfomance in the game was such that every player played a part in it who stepped on the court.
Kirk Hinrich perhaps tried the most. Pulling off nine assists is his best last five games. Offensively it seems that Kirk is finding what some time ago seemed lost, confidence and willingness to take over when it's needed. But against Rockets you can't win just by willpower.
Hinrich was on the court the whole game, scoring seventeen points and three long-range threepointers, but had hard time handling the ball as his sharp passes that previously have ended up with Bulls forwards, were cut short by Rockets defence. Ben Gordon is one of the players who again failed to find his strong perfomance in the first half, and while he did score all of his points in the second, it was far too late.
Nocioni was the fighter in the night and while the Bulls struggled, at times it seemed that he was so frustrated that his team was struggling that he forced shots. Amazingly, he scored seven times out of his eleven attempts, giving hope to Bulls fans with his better three point perfomance in a while.
Fans hoped that Kwame Brown will be able to be the key required to unlock Rockets defence, since it was known Yao and Ben will be at each other throats the whole night. But his perfomance was lower than was expected. Out of three bench players used by Skiles today, the most effective was Adam Morrison. But that's not saying he was effective in the game in large scale, scoring merely .333 from the floor.
Rockets had a dominant perfomance. Tracy McGrady's forty five points will be remembered by Bulls fans every single time T-Mac returns to United Center probably for a few, if not many more years.
Yao Ming scored 12 points with good .750 shooting and grabbed game high fourteen rebounds. Notable perfomance was also pulled off by Bob Sura who took advantage of Kirk Hinrich in the first half who had hard time adjusting to Sura's decisive offence.
Tracy McGrady
45PTS 4REB 1AST 3STL
BOX SCORES
(16-19)@(12-21)
Ben Wallace and Michael Ruffin
Kwame Brown and Antawn Jamison
Andres Nocioni and Matt Harpring
Ben Gordon and Caron Butler
Kirk Hinrich and Jarvis Hayes
matchup of the game
Unquestionably a matchup between two talented, yet struggling teams. Nevertheless the Wizards have an excuse, Gilbert Arenas has missed all but the first nine games of the season and Wizards have struggled since. Their backup point guard Shammond Williams is also out with an injury.
The Bulls however are missing just one talented young forward Marvin Williams and that hardly is the cause for recent Bulls struggles. Inconsistency however, is the main reason. Bulls, when finding chemistry on court and grab the initiative are a team no one (but Rockets probably) would like to face.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Wizards are missing both point guards, including franchise star Gilbert Arenas. Upcoming game might be the last game Arenas misses as he is close to recovering and being ready for game time again.

Wizards are 6-9 at home.
AROUND THE LEAGUE

Miami Heat's Jason Williams is out for next ten weeks with a broken finger.