Bulls coach Billy Donovan respects aggression, skill of young Rockets

HOUSTON — Coming off an impressive 117-96 win over the Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan knew his team could not afford to overlook the Houston Rockets.

“We are going to have to put in a full 48 minutes of work,” Donovan said when asked about Saturday’s game.

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The Rockets defeated the Bulls, 133-118, at Chicago in late December. Houston guard Kevin Porter Jr., who is set to return after missing Thursday’s game in Indiana due to a thigh contusion, scored a season-high 36 points in that victory. One defensive change that Donovan has emphasized to his team is the importance of guarding the paint and stopping the Rockets from getting into transition.

“They are not going to stop in transition running, they are not going to stop coming to the backboard, and they are not going to stop driving the ball,” Donovan said of the Rockets.

“So you can be good for a half or a quarter, and it is not going to be good enough. We have to be good for the full 48 (minutes), and I think that is what the challenge is going to be for us tonight. Can we be more consistent against a team like this that are going to do more?”

“They are not going to stop in transition running, they are not going to stop coming to the backboard, and they are not going to stop driving the ball,” said Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan about the Houston Rockets. #Sarge #Rockets @TheRocketsWire pic.twitter.com/0tt5jKFXj0

— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 12, 2023

Houston (15-51) currently has the worst record in the NBA, but Donovan reiterated that records do not dictate how good a team is.

“It is not like you look at someone’s record and say, ‘They are getting blown out by 30 points every single night,’” Donovan said of the NBA’s bottom teams. “That is not the case here in Houston. They are in all these games; they just fall short in some of these games.”