HOUSTON — Jalen Green scored 26 points, Dillon Brooks had 23 before being ejected and the Houston Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls 127-117 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory.
The loss kept the Bulls (34-36) from reaching .500 for the first time since they were 2-2.
Ayo Dosunmu led the Bulls with a career-high 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting. Nikola Vučević had 16 points and 14 rebounds for his 40th double-double of the season. Coby White returned after missing three games with a right hip sprain and scored 13.
The Rockets are 9-1 in March and just 2½ games behind the Golden State Warriors for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
With the Rockets leading 84-75 with 6 minutes, 2 seconds left in the third quarter, Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan fouled Green, which upset Brooks. DeRozan turned around and then elbowed Brooks in the chin, causing a melee on the field.
Upon review, DeRozan’s initial foul was ruled flagrant-2 and he was ejected. Brooks received a technical foul and was ejected.
Brooks left the game with a team-leading 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while DeRozan came out with 16 points on just 4-of-15 shooting in 23 minutes.
After the delay, the Rockets finished the quarter strong to lead 105-94 and never looked back. The bench performed well, scoring 49 points compared to just 28 on the Bulls bench.
Jock Landale scored 17, Aaron Holiday scored 15 and Jeff Green added 14, all coming off the Rockets bench. Amen Thompson had 15 points and eight rebounds.
