Bulls Stampede From 17 Down To Silence Rockets

Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 22 points, including a clutch field goal with 32 seconds to play that gave Chicago a 104-102 lead.

The Chicago Bulls scored the final 10 points of the game to cap a recovery from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeat the Houston Rockets 105-102 on Saturday, ending the visitors' six-game winning streak.

Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 22 points, including a clutch field goal with 32 seconds to play that gave Chicago a 104-102 lead.

Ron Artest powered the Rockets with a season-high 32 points but Houston did not score after his three-pointer gave them a 102-95 lead with 2:16 to play.

"I'm proud our guys hung in," Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro told reporters. "It was a great win for us against a Houston team as good as any we've played with their size and shooting."

The Rockets held a 99-82 advantage with slightly less than six minutes to go but were outscored 23-3 by the Bulls.

Chicago reeled off 13 consecutive points to edge within four before Artest hit his three-pointer -- Houston's only field goal for the game's last 5:51. The Bulls then went on a 10-0 run to seal the win.

"I liked our toughness. I liked our attitude," Del Negro said.

Tyrus Thomas added 19 points for the Bulls, Ben Gordon had 16, John Salmons 12 and Brad Miller 11. Joakim Noah finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Houston's Yao Ming backed up Artest with 17 points and Luis Scola had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Artest, who missed a three-pointer with 11 seconds to play, took the blame for the loss.

"There were things I could have done to help us sustain the lead we had," he told reporters. "We made a lot of progress, we just had a bad fourth quarter."

Houston coach Rick Adelman was more than willing to agree with that.

"The fourth quarter we were awful," he told reporters. "We swung the ball and we were going to attack the other side and we didn't do it. We got very, very non-aggressive. Two things happened; we didn't score and we didn't stop them."

NBA STANDINGS on Saturday.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. Boston        47 13 .783 -
 2. Philadelphia  29 29 .500 17
 3. New Jersey    26 32 .448 20
 4. NY Knicks     24 35 .407 22 1/2
 5. Toronto       23 37 .383 24
 CENTRAL DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. Cleveland     45 12 .789 -
 2. Detroit       28 29 .491 17
 3. Milwaukee     29 33 .468 18 1/2
 4. Chicago       27 33 .450 19 1/2
 5. Indiana       25 36 .410 22
 SOUTHEAST DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. Orlando       43 16 .729 -
 2. Atlanta       33 25 .569 9 1/2
 3. Miami         31 27 .534 11 1/2
 4. Charlotte     25 35 .417 18 1/2
 5. Washington    14 45 .237 29
 WESTERN CONFERENCE
 NORTHWEST DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. Denver        39 20 .661 -
 2. Portland      36 22 .621 2 1/2
 3. Utah          36 23 .610 3
 4. Minnesota     18 40 .310 20 1/2
 5. Oklahoma City 14 45 .237 25
 PACIFIC DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. LA Lakers     48 11 .814 -
 2. Phoenix       33 25 .569 14 1/2
 3. Golden State  20 38 .345 27 1/2
 4. LA Clippers   15 45 .250 33 1/2
 5. Sacramento    13 48 .213 36
 SOUTHWEST DIVISION

               W  L  PCT  GB
 1. San Antonio   39 18 .684 -
 2. Houston       37 22 .627 3
 3. New Orleans   35 22 .614 4
 4. Dallas        35 23 .603 4 1/2
 5. Memphis       15 43 .259 24 1/2

NBA RESULTS on Saturday (home team in
CAPS)
 Orlando       106 PHILADELPHIA 100
 MIAMI         120 NY Knicks    115
 Oklahoma City 99  MEMPHIS      92
 CHICAGO       105 Houston      102
 MILWAUKEE     109 Washington   93
 UTAH          102 Sacramento   89
 Charlotte     100 LA CLIPPERS  95