Steve Francis scored 21 points to lead the Houston Rockets to their 12th straight victory over a Central Division opponent, a 95-78 defeat of the Chicago Bulls. We've had a lot of success with the leading teams in the East. But, I have no idea why. Instead, we had to buckle down and play defense.
Young teams tend to be good frontrunners.
They get up and down on you and get confident. That's what happened tonight. Olajuwon finished with 17 points. The Bulls opened a 16-8 lead when Brand nailed a jumper from the right sideline midway through the first quarter. Chicago held a 29-19 advantage after one period and took its biggest lead when rookie Marcus Fizer began the second quarter with a jumper.