Houston Rockets Fail To Capitalize on Chicago's Miscues, Await Atlanta

The Houston Rockets returned home on Saturday night, but they couldn’t muster a victory against the pesky Chicago Bulls no matter how many times they tried.

Regardless of the 104-97 defeat, this latest loss brings out a song that sometimes remains the same: Houston failing to capitalize on their opponents' mistakes and misses.

Blame the effing officials or ridiculous calls all you want; the Rockets had plenty of opportunities to seize this game at home and they unfortunately failed to do so.

“[I am] just very disappointed in the way we came out and played,” Houston head coach Rick Adelman told Rockets.com staff writer Jason Friedman. “As good as we were last night, we just came out like we thought we had all day to get in the game. They shot (63) percent in the first half and scored 64 points. It’s an attitude. I don’t know if we thought this would be a cakewalk because we beat San Antonio. We really buried ourselves in the first half.”

Hopefully, Houston will bounce back in a big way when they host the Eastern powerhouse Atlanta Hawks tonight at Toyota Center.

“We’ve got to come out with more energy in the first quarter,” Rockets budding point guard Aaron Brooks said. “We fell behind and it just seemed like we were constantly battling uphill. So we’ve got to figure out a way to get started at the beginning of the game and get a lead.”

The Rockets look to find the answers to Brooks’ questions and more when Houston tips off against the Hawks in a matter of moments…

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at [e-mail]