Game 62: Houston Rockets At Chicago Bulls Preview

There is hope for our Houston Rockets guys.

After jettisoning Ty Lawson and Marcus Thornton before the waiver deadline, the Rockets were able to pick up serviceable help in Michael Beasley and Andrew Goudelock, both who had most recently had been playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.

They had tremendous success as of late there and the Rockets decided to give these guys a shot back in the Association which is quite warranted.

Beasley was crowned the CBA MVP at the end of the season and Goudelock had been averaging 22.1 points and 47.4 percent shooting with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.

I’m not saying they’ll be our saviors but is one component of what needed to be fixed — our bench.

The bench production was nowhere near where it was last season and these guys are going to be primed up to give us a shot in the arm.

Beasley will be ready to tonight as the deal is now official but, at of the time of this writing, the Rockets are still waiting on a Letter of Clearance from the FIBA for Goudelock in addition to him being in Atlanta for the birth of his second child.

He’ll eventually join up with the team on their five-game road trip that starts tonight and ends next Saturday.

We’ll have to see but the Bulls will be getting back their biggest gun in Jimmy Butler and now his match up with James Harden immediately elevates to the one to see.

Let’s hope the Rockets don’t embarrass themselves on national television — I have a good feeling they won’t.

So who’s leading the charge for the Bulls?

More from House of Houston

Jimmy Butler is the leading scorer (22.4 PPG) and steals king (1.70 SPG). Derrick Rose is the lead assist man (6.6 APG). Pau Gasol is the team’s top board-getter (10.9 RPG) and shot-blocker (1.90 BPG).

Let’s talk about what the Bulls do well.

They take care of the basketball. The Bulls are tied for 7th in the league — with the Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors — in turnover ratio, with only 12.4 percent of their possessions ending with a turnover.

They’re quite solid with their defense. The Bulls are ranked 11th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing 102.4 points per 100 possessions.

They like the basketball in their hands. The Bulls are tied for 10th in the league — along with the Atlanta Hawks — as far as PACE Factor, averaging 98.9 possessions per game.

Injuries:

I swear Terrence Jones has the worst luck with staying on the court! He will be OUT tonight with an illness and his status is, of course, day-to-day.

Taj Gibson has been dealing with a right hamstring injury for the past couple of games and has missed some time as a result. His status is QUESTIONABLE for tonight.

Nikola Mirotic had appendectomy surgery done and is still several weeks from a return back to the lineup. He will be OUT for tonight.

Sources: Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune and Nick Friedell of ESPN.com.

Three Things to Watch:

Patrick Beverley vs. Derrick Rose
James Harden vs. Jimmy Butler
Dwight Howard vs. Pau Gasol

Prediction:

103-98 in a Rockets’ win!

The Rockets hit the road to take on the Bulls at Toyota Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on ABC and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM (KBME) and La Ranchera 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets!

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