Fred VanVleet, Alperen Sengun help Rockets roll Bulls

On By Littum

NBA: Houston Rockets at Chicago BullsNovember 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) shoots against Chicago Bulls forward Dalen Terry (25) in the first half at the United Center. Mandatory credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Fred VanVleet scored a game-high 28 points and Alperen Sengun finished with 20 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for his second straight triple-double as the visiting Houston Rockets dispatched the Chicago Bulls 143-107 on Sunday.

Houston led by as many as 39 points en route to its fifth straight win. The Rockets pulled away with an 11-0 run to begin the third quarter and went ahead 79-52.

Houston dominated Chicago inside and in transition, holding an 80-40 advantage in points in the paint and a 32-15 edge in fastbreak points.

Seven Rockets scored in double figures, including each starter. Jalen Green had 18 points, while Amen Thompson (16 points), Dillon Brooks (15), Reed Sheppard (12) and Jabari Smith Jr. (10) followed. Thompson added 11 rebounds for a double-double.

The Bulls emptied much of their bench late in the third quarter. Zach LaVine (15 points) and Talen Horton-Tucker (12) paced Chicago, which shot 33.6 percent. Houston shot 52.4 percent while tying a season high in points.

Chicago was just 14-of-56 from long range. Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu and Josh Giddey each had nine points for the Bulls, who have allowed at least 135 points four times this season.

Chicago trailed by just one point after the first quarter despite a 4-for-16 start from 3-point range. The shootout continued in the second quarter as the Rockets took a 68-52 lead into halftime behind 54 percent shooting from the floor. That compared to 33.3 percent for Chicago, including 26.9 percent from deep.

The Rockets had 41 points in the second quarter.

VanVleet led all scorers with 18 points in the first half. LaVine paced the Bulls with 10.

Patrick Williams, whose five-game streak in double-figure scoring was snapped, started 0-for-6 from the floor, including 0-for-4 from long range. He finished with seven points.

Giddey led the Bulls with nine rebounds. The Rockets finished plus-19 on the boards to help Houston improve to 6-3 in its last nine visits to Chicago.

–Field-level media