Sloppy first quarter does Rockets in against Bulls

Photo courtesy of Jeff Haynes/Getty Images

It was a pretty good night, all things considered. Eric Gordon and DeMarcus Cousins returned from injury, Victor Oladipo had a stellar Rockets debut, and the team battled throughout. The team simply couldn't do the one thing that made it all worth it--winning the game.

Despite a late surge, Houston couldn't overcome a putrid first quarter showing against the Chicago Bulls, who would go on to defeat the Rockets by a score of __ on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The Rockets' first quarter was about as ugly as it could get. The team's lack of chemistry showed in a big way against a solid Bulls team--Eric Gordon was the only Rocket who scored more than one basket, and the team as a whole went 33.3% shooting from the floor. They were outscored 28-16 in the first period, turning the ball over nine times.

Things started clicking for the team in the second, as the team scored 36 as a unit, more than double their first quarter amount. Christian Wood and Victor Oladipo quickly got in on the scoring action, going Gordon in turning in fantastic offensive performances.

Unfortunately, defense would become a huge problem for the team as the game continued. The Rockets gave up 36 points of their own in the second quarter, and would allow another 61 points in the second half total. As a whole, Chicago shot 46.7% from the field, and a whopping 44.4% from three.

Zach Lavine in particular exploded against the Rockets. He dropped 33 points on a mere 16 shots in the contest.

Though it might have taken a while, Victor Oladipo did everything he did to try to keep the Rockets in the game in his debut. Oladipo was sensational in his first game as a Rocket--he dropped 32 points, nine assists, and five rebounds in the loss.

Christian Wood did his thing again, too. He finished with 30 points and nine boards.

Despite the sloppy initial showing, that figures to solve itself with time, as Oladipo gets more accustomed to playing with his new teammates, and as John Wall eventually returns to the lineup. There were already slight marks of improvement as the game wore on, such as the team committing only six turnovers in the remaining three quarters after giving away nine in the first.

With the loss, Houston falls to 4-8, near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Their next chance for a win will come against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. Tip-off starts at 8:30, with the game being aired on ESPN.