Rockets have answers in back-and-forth win over Bulls

Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun recorded double-doubles, and Jabari Smith Jr. drilled three late jumpers as the Houston Rockets outlasted the visiting Chicago Bulls 119-113 on Tuesday night.

The Rockets snapped a three-game losing skid in the first of five consecutive home games. Durant paired 28 points with 10 rebounds while Sengun added 23 points and 11 assists. But it was Smith who carried the Rockets to the finish line, first with a 3-pointer with 2:52 remaining that lifted the Rockets to a 108-106 lead.

Smith (18 points) added a pull-up jumper one minute later before his second 3-pointer of the game extended the lead to 115-108 with 1:27 to play.

Neither team held a double-digit lead. The game featured 35 lead changes and 19 ties.

Amen Thompson added 23 points for Houston and finished 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

The Bulls, in the absence of ailing guards Josh Giddey and Coby White, were paced by Tre Jones' career-high 34 points on 11-for-12 shooting. Matas Buzelis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, while Jalen Smith and Nikola Vucevic chipped in 14 points apiece for the Bulls.

After Houston inched to a six-point advantage on a pair of Thompson free throws with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter, the Bulls punched back and reclaimed the lead at 99-98 following back-to-back 3-pointers from Isaac Okoro and Ayo Dosunmu. The margin remained tight until Smith discovered his stroke.

Consecutive 3-pointers from Reed Sheppard keyed a 10-0 run that lifted the Rockets to a 29-21 first-quarter lead. But Kevin Huerter snapped that rally with a steal and buzzer-beating 3 for Chicago that shaved that deficit to five entering the second.

The Bulls extended their run into that period, seizing a 42-38 advantage on Dosunmu's layup with 7:01 remaining in the first half.

That was the largest margin for the rest of a seesaw half. Jones' driving layup and two Smith free throws with 7.8 seconds left to play spotted the Bulls a 60-57 halftime lead, with the teams entering intermission having combined for 14 lead changes and 13 ties. Chicago took advantage of 10 second-chance points and converted eight Houston turnovers into 13 points.

--Field Level Media