HOUSTON — Jalen Green scored 26 points, Dillon Brooks had 23 before being ejected from the game and the Rockets earned their seventh straight victory, 127-117 over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.
“It’s good to start playing good basketball again,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Now you want to take that momentum and keep stretching the rope and doing a little bit more every game.”
Houston went 9-1 in March and is now just 2 1/2 games behind Golden State for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. The Rockets’ seven-game winning streak is their longest since 2021.
With the Rockets leading 84-75 with 6:02 left in the third quarter, a foul by DeMar DeRozan on Green 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 a flagrant foul 2 and he was ejected. Brooks received a technical foul and was ejected for his role in the melee.
“I had a great game, great impact, I wish he wasn’t sent off, but like I said I don’t mind him defending his guys,” Udoka told about Brooks. “It was good to see him bounce back. He’s been having a little trouble shooting it lately, but he looked really good tonight.”
Bulls interim coach Billy Donovan was surprised.
“Any time you lose good players it’s never good. I don’t think DeMar’s intention was to get a blatant 2, it was definitely a foul and of course a blatant 1 and they shoot a free throw. I don’t think that was ever the case.” His intention was to do that. I was actually a little surprised that this was elevated to the egregious level of 2, personally. ”
Team manager Curtis Blair spoke with the pool reporter after the game.
“DeRozan was assessed a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty because the contact was excessive and unnecessary,” Blair said. “Because Brooks escalated the situation, so he received a technical foul and was ejected.”
Brooks left the game at that point 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.
“Just not being there and giving us every chance to go out and win a game, that’s what frustrates me the most, more than anything,” DeRozan said. “Not being out there with my guys, seeing what the outcome could have been.”
Brooks did not speak to the media after the game.
After the delay, Houston finished the quarter strong to lead 105-94 and never looked back. The bench proved important for Houston, scoring 49 points, compared to just 28 from the Chicago bench.
“I really outperformed their bench,” Udoka said. “Like you said, when Dillon comes out, he was having a great game himself, and Jabari (Smith Jr.) had some foul trouble, it was great for those guys to come in and have a impact.”
Jock Landale scored 17 and grabbed 12 rebounds, Aaron Holiday had 15 and Jeff Green added 14, all coming off the bench for Houston. Amen Thompson had 15 points and eight rebounds.
For Chicago, Ayo Dosunmu led the way with 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting. Nikola Vučević scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for his 40th double-double of the season. Coby White returned to action after missing the last three games with a sprained right hip and scored 13 for the Bulls.
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