CHICAGO: Eric Gordon and Chris Paul each had 24 points and nine assists, Gerald Green scored 22 and the Houston Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls 116-107 on Monday night.
Trevor Ariza hit six 3-pointers and scored 18 to go with nine rebounds. Clint Capela added 15 points and 16 rebounds, and the Rockets won for the third time in 10 games despite blowing a 21-point lead.
Bobby Portis led the Bulls with 22 points. Denzel Valentine and Kris Dunn each scored 19, but Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games.
With NBA scoring leader James Harden missing his fourth consecutive game because of a strained hamstring, the Rockets regained control after falling behind early in the third.
They scored eight straight to stretch a two-point edge to 10 late in the quarter and took an 87-76 lead into the fourth after Green and Paul nailed back-to-back 3s. Houston was in charge the rest of the game.
Houston nearly put this one away early, going up by 21 late in the first quarter after Paul’s four-point play. But the Bulls got more physical in the second and cut it to 60-55 at halftime.
The Bulls tied it on a 3 by Valentine to start the third and two free throws by Robin Lopez. Dunn gave Chicago its first lead since the early going, 64-62, just under three minutes into the quarter.
Lavine meeting
The Bulls had no update after forward Zach LaVine and his representatives met Monday with management, coaches and medical staff to set a date for his Chicago debut. Vice president of basketball operations John Paxson figures to give one when he meets with the media on Tuesday.
Acquired along with Dunn and Lauri Markkanen in the draft-night trade that sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota, Lavine appears ready to play for the first time since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last February. The two-time slam dunk champion averaged 18.9 points in 47 games for the Timberwolves last season.
Tip-ins
Rockets: Houston had dropped four of five road games.
Bulls: F Nikola Mirotic missed the game because of a stomach virus that’s been bothering him the past few days. Chicago coach Fred Hoiberg said Mirotic “felt much better” prior to playing 23 minutes at Indiana on Saturday but took a bad turn after that game. He saw a doctor on Monday. ... Hoiberg said G Cameron Payne, recovering from a broken right foot, is cleared to do “pretty much everything except jumping.” Payne had surgery in September and has not played this season.
Gordon, Paul lead way as Rockets beat Bulls 116-107
Gordon, Paul lead way as Rockets beat Bulls 116-107
Bangladesh replaced by Scotland at T20 World Cup, reports say
- Bangladesh had asked the ICC to move their games to the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka instead
- Scotland, the highest-ranked non-qualifier, are now set to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C
DUBAI: Bangladesh have been replaced by Scotland for next month’s Twenty20 World Cup after the South Asian side refused to travel to co-hosts India, media reports said on Saturday citing sources within the sport’s governing International Cricket Council.
The decision follows weeks of uncertainty, during which the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) repeatedly insisted it would not play its scheduled matches in India, citing safety concerns following soured political relations between the neighbors.
Bangladesh had asked the ICC to move their games to the tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka instead, but the governing body rejected the demand, dismissing any security threat to the team.
Scotland, the highest-ranked non-qualifier, are now set to take Bangladesh’s place in Group C, which features England, Italy, Nepal and West Indies, the BBC reported.
Reuters has contacted the ICC, BCB and Cricket Scotland for comment.
PROTESTS NEAR BANGLADESH HIGH COMMISSION
Last month, hundreds of people protested near Bangladesh’s High Commission in New Delhi after Hindu factory worker Dipu Chandra Das was beaten and set on fire in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district by a crowd that accused him of making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
A total of 12 people were arrested in connection with his death.
The incident worsened relations between India and its neighbor, with ties already strained after Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to New Delhi following protests against her.
Political tensions have spilled into cricket.
Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from this year’s Indian Premier League despite signing with its Kolkata franchise. Bangladesh responded by banning IPL broadcasts in the country and demanding to play World Cup matches in Sri Lanka.
The standoff mirrors previous tensions in South Asian cricket.
For the Champions Trophy last year, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) stuck to its policy of not touring Pakistan because of the strained political ties between the bitter neighbors, who play each other only in ICC events.
Like for the 2023 Asia Cup in Pakistan, a ‘hybrid model’ was agreed on under which India were allowed to play their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai to salvage the tournament.
Under the agreement running until 2027, Pakistan will play in a neutral venue for any ICC event, including the T20 World Cup where they are scheduled to play their matches in Sri Lanka.
The 20-team World Cup is set to begin on February 7.
