Rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. continued his resurgence for the Rockets in a 119-111 loss (box score) to the Bulls on Saturday night at Toyota Center. Chicago improved to 31-36 with the come-from-behind win, while Houston dropped to an NBA-worst 15-52 in defeat.
Smith led the Rockets with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks, shooting 8-of-14 overall (57.1%) and 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40.0%).
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 36 points and 9 rebounds on 14-of-26 shooting (53.8%), including 3-of-8 on 3-pointers. Veteran star DeMar DeRozan added 27 points and 7 rebounds on 9-of-21 shooting (42.9%) and 2-of-3 from 3-point range (66.7%).
Beyond Smith, other Houston players in double figures included:
- Jalen Green: 18 points, 7 assists; 7-of-14 shooting (50.0%), 3-of-7 on 3-pointers (42.9%)
- KJ Martin: 16 points, 6-of-11 shooting (54.5%), 2-of-4 on 3-pointers (50.0%)
- Kevin Porter Jr.: 15 oints, 4 rebounds, 4 assists; 5-of-13 shooting (38.5%), 2-of-7 on 3-pointers (28.6%)
- Tari Eason: 12 points, 4 rebounds; 4-of-4 on 3-pointers
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. Next up for Houston, as its six-game homestand continues, is Monday’s matchup versus Boston. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central.
19-year old rookie Jabari Smith Jr. is clearly starting to gain confidence. 20-10 tonight. His last 5 games with the #Rockets:
17.6 ppg | 54.2% FG | 45.5% 3P | 82.4% FT | 7.2 rebounds | 1.2 steals pic.twitter.com/wMBkkvJUkE
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 12, 2023
Rockets have missed their past six shots with three turnovers since leading by four. Bulls go up nine with 2:06 left on a 13-0 run.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) March 12, 2023
It is an insane amount of Bulls fans here tonight. I was looking around to see if Jordan came out of retirement.
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) March 12, 2023
#Rockets didn’t win but we got another good game from Jabari Smith 20pts & 10rbs and I am good.
— Chris A. White 🐻 (@fyrebear) March 12, 2023
Not sure what happened to these guys here in the 4th, but it was one poor decision after another, everyone made some very bad mistakes
— Abel (@AbelGe87) March 12, 2023
With 20 points tonight, Jabari Smith Jr. has now been the #Rockets leading…
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