Any NBA team will tell you it’s tough to dance the Texas two-step, and the Bulls certainly tripped over themselves Wednesday night at the Toyota Center.
Back-to-back games in Dallas and Houston proved too much as the Rockets waltzed to a 105-92 victory with the ease of Fred Astaire. Houston has won five straight.
The Bulls, who trailed by double digits for most of the game, looked like the guy thrashing on the dance floor with no rhythm, taking bad shots, fumbling passes and blowing assignments.
“For some reason, we couldn’t get into the right sets, offensively and defensively,” Tyson Chandler said. “We had a game plan, and for some reason, we kept having breakdowns.”
All five Houston starters reached double figures, topped by Tracy McGrady’s 24 points and nine assists. Yao Ming added 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Three stretches in particular hurt the Bulls, who shot 36.8 percent and dropped back to .500.
In a nod to their offensive ineptitude, coach Scott Skiles stacked the floor with shooters, riding a lineup of Jannero Pargo, Eric Piatkowski, Andres Nocioni, Chandler and either Kirk Hinrich or Ben Gordon for stretches in the third and fourth quarters.
The Bulls pulled within 86-77 on Gordon’s driving, left-handed layup with 7 minutes 48 seconds left. But Houston responded by ripping off an 11-0 run, capped by a Yao dunk on a feed from McGrady.
Earlier, Houston opened the second quarter with a 15-0 run as the Bulls missed 12 straight shots and committed four turnovers.
