On the same day that job speculation swirled with regards to head coach Stephen Silas and rookie Jalen Green was lost to a leg injury, the Houston Rockets pulled off their most shocking victory in some time.
Wednesday’s 118-113 win (box score) over the visiting Chicago Bulls (12-7) snapped a 15-game losing streak for the Rockets and improved them to 2-16 on the 2021-22 NBA season. It was a raucous environment in front of Houston fans at Toyota Center, allowing the home team to head into Thanksgiving with something to finally be thankful for.
Danuel House Jr. led the Rockets with 18 points in just 17 minutes, all in the second half, and he made all four of his 3-pointers. That allowed Houston to rally from a 9-point deficit early in the third quarter.
The Rockets made a tactical change heading into the game, with Silas removing usual starting center Daniel Theis from the starting lineup (and rotation) while allowing Christian Wood to return to that position — which is where he excelled in the 2020-21 season. Wood responded with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, including 2-of-3 on 3-pointers.
Here’s a sampling of how NBA Twitter reacted on Wednesday night to the surprising news of Houston knocking off Chicago, which entered the game with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
[lawrence-related id=57486,57477]
Rough night. pic.twitter.com/n2bsWMEFUm
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 25, 2021
GARRISON MATHEWS DAGGER!!!
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) November 25, 2021
So it’s actually happening right…#Rockets
— BIG SARGE MEDIA LLC (@BigSargeSportz) November 25, 2021
What an absolutely horrendous loss by the Bulls. Just unacceptable. I want to just chalk it up as a bad night but good teams don’t lose to 1 win teams. They just DONT.
— Faizan Qurashi (@FaizanQurashi) November 25, 2021
It doesn’t matter if it’s the 90’s or 2021 we got the Bulls number.
— Vernon Maxwell (@VernonMaxwell11) November 25, 2021
WE'RE BACK pic.twitter.com/qg5PZMCvvw
— Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) November 25, 2021
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 25, 2021
It’s taking everything inside of me to not hug Stephen Silas in this press conference. So happy for him.
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) November 25, 2021
going into Thanksgiving like pic.twitter.com/hDKsQ1yltN
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 25, 2021
This is Josh reaction after finding out the Rockets beat the Bulls tonight pic.twitter.com/9K36NYB8Ki
— Lachard Binkley (@HTOWN4LIFE40) November 25, 2021
ROCKETS WIN! ROCKETS FINALLY WIN!
ROCKETS WON'T GO 1-81 THIS SEASON!!pic.twitter.com/B8mLTEo5eN
— arxn (@arxanii) November 25, 2021
THE ROCKETS WON A GAME 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/EW4Ywt5D3R
— Ross Villarreal (@SportsRV) November 25, 2021
The nightmare is over. The Rockets have won a basketball game pic.twitter.com/CporvY2M84
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) November 25, 2021
The Rockets and Texans won their second regular season game in the same week, it's a Thanksgiving miracle
— Doug Dimmadome, Owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome (@jalex_819) November 25, 2021
ROCKETS WIN. I repeat. ROCKETS WIN. @ATT | #LightTheFuse 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3Qjb4oiV3v
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) November 25, 2021