December has been a month to forget thus far for the Chicago Bulls.  With winter in the air and snow on the ground, the Houston Rockets came to the United Center Saturday night.  After getting terribly outplayed against the East’s elite twice this week, the Bulls looked to rebound against the 7-12 Rockets.  The Bulls were victorious in their first meeting with Houston this year 95-92.  That was also without newcomer Carlos Boozer.  Boozer would be in the lineup tonight in what would be his third game back from his broken finger.  Despite dropping their last two the Bulls maintained a half game lead over the Pacers in their division.  Derrick Rose said, “I couldn’t wait to play today.”

Carlos Boozer added, “We didn’t think about last night.  We came in thinking about Houston.”

The moment of silence held for the recently deceased Ron Santo before introductions carried over for most of the first quarter.  Maybe it was too cold to cheer or it could have been the disappointment carrying over from the team’s recent struggles.  The typical Bulls first quarter this year hasn’t exactly gone as expected.  They have often found themselves trailing and looking a bit sluggish.  This night it wouldn’t be much different.  Rockets forward Luis Scola got his fair share of looks shooting the ball nine times and closing out the first with twelve points.  Carlos Boozer looked more confident than his first two outings grabbing four rebounds and scoring eight.  Joakim Noah also had more rebounds tonight in the first minute than he did the entire Orlando game.  Chicago led by two at the end of the first, which is something they aren’t used to this season.  

With Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah playing the entire first, it was up to the bench to let the three starters get their legs back.  Kyle Korver and company wasted no time scoring sinking five of their first six shots and forcing three turnovers within the first four minutes.  Chicago would close out the second quarter leading 56-44 with Rose and Boozer combining for twenty-three points.  It also helps that Houston shot below seventy percent from the free throw line while the Bulls shot ninety-one percent.  Chicago moved the ball well finding themselves on the fast break often outscoring the Rockets thirteen to two in the first half.  Even with the Bulls leading by twelve and seemingly having the game in control, the United Center crowd was still quiet.

With halftime usually causing the Bulls some trouble, it was up to D. Rose and company to stop that jinx.  Unfortunately the jinx continued.  Chicago got sloppy turning the ball over six times allowing Houston to get right back into it.  The Rockets got up by four but the Bulls upheld a two point lead by outrebounding Houston eleven to five.  Houston’s 64.7 field goal percentage got them back in the game and a three-point buzzer beater by Noah Lowry from just in front of half-court gave them nice momentum heading into the fourth.     

Houston looked to capitalize on Tom Thibodeau resting Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer to start the fourth and capitalize they did.  Houston quickly jumped out to a six-point lead with help from former Bull Brad Miller and guard Courtney Lee.  Thibodeau had seen enough with eight minutes left and summoned Derrick Rose to the scorer’s table.  Derrick came in and quickly put his teammates on his back and gave them a much needed spark.  Rose scored five points in thirty seconds keeping the Rockets lead reachable, but three missed free throws by Carlos Boozer kept giving the Rockets life.  Brad Miller sunk a huge three pointer with three minutes left giving Houston a 101-97 lead.  The pesky Chicago defense wouldn’t let up late trailing by three and causing a shot clock violation.  With twenty-four seconds left the Bulls trailed by four and couldn’t get a call to if their lives depended on it.  Rose attempted to drive to the lane and got mugged but with no whistle.    The crowd could have been given a technical with the moans and groans directed at the referees.  Composure needed to be kept if a comeback was going to be made.  The Bulls gathered themselves and Carlos Boozer found himself in the right spot at the right time on back to back tip-ins keeping the deficit at one possession.  The Rockets free throw troubles continued with three straight splits at the line.  With no timeouts and less than six seconds left the ball needed to be in one man’s hands and everyone in the building knew it.  The ball found his hands while Joakim Noah kept the play alive quickly dishing it off to Rose.  Derrick got just enough free space and skied for the three point shot draining it as the clock hit triple zero.  After forty-eight minutes, the crowd blew the roof off the place.  Derrick Rose said, “Right when I let go, I knew it was going in.”    

The extra frame was Derrick Rose’s time to shine.  His tenacity and will to win would not be denied.  He sank a three with 1:48 left to play and that was the dagger.  Houston couldn’t recover and the wind had been knocked out of their sails.  Brad Miller would throw up a half-hearted last three in an attempt to tie, but didn’t even draw iron.  Chicago led, trailed, and came back to win 119-116.  Derrick Rose had thirty points and eleven assists.  He also set a new career high with five steals.  Carlos Boozer had his best game as a Bull scoring twenty-five and nabbing nine rebounds.  It’s very clear that this is Derrick Rose’s team and this city and his teammates give him a ringing endorsement.  “He’s our guy.  He’s always going to make something happen,” fellow captain Boozer said of Rose afterward.  The Bulls have a tough test ahead of them Monday as Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder come to town.  Oklahoma won the first meeting in their building on opening night.