Houston Rockets @ Chicago Bulls
Monday, March 23, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET
United Center, Chicago, IL | Game ID: 22501042
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CHI 41 24 30 37 132HOU 21 27 39 37 124
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Bulls race to 20-point lead in 1st quarter, hang on to beat the Rockets 132-124
CHICAGO -- — Matas Buzelis ' layup in the final seconds put Chicago ahead to stay and Collin Sexton came off the bench to score 25 points as the Chicago Bulls beat the Houston Rockets 132-124 Monday night.
Houston's loss, combined with San Antonio's 136-111 win over Miami, allowed the Spurs (54-18) to clinch the Southwest Division.
The Bulls (29-42) led by as many as 22 points after scoring a season-high 41 points in the first quarter. But, Chicago trailed by four points late and needed Buzelis' basket with 10.2 seconds remaining to move ahead to stay and post their first win over Houston in the teams' last five games.
Kevin Durant fueled the Rockets' (43-28) comeback by scoring 15 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter. Durant was 15 of 23 from the field, marking the ninth straight game he shot 50% or better, which is the third-longest streak of his career.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka was ejected after being assessed his second technical foul of the game with 9.1 seconds remaining.
Sexton scored 17 of his points in the first quarter, while Buzelis finished with 23 and Leonard Miller 17. Josh Giddey , Tre Jones and Jalen Smith each scored 15 points for the Bulls, with Giddey adding 13 assists.
After trailing by 17 at the half, the Rockets took the lead on a Jabari Smith Jr. 3-pointer with 5:56 to play. Alperen Sengun scored 33 for the Rockets and Amen Thompson added 23.
Jalen Smith, who was listed as questionable after missing the Bulls' last game with an ankle injury, tied his season high in points and finished with six rebounds and two blocks off the bench despite being limited to 26 minutes.
The Rockets had won two straight after inserting second-year guard Reed Sheppard into the starting lineup. Sheppard shot 3 for 14 from 3-point distance.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CC C. Capela
DF D. Finney-Smith
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
TE T. Eason
CHICS C. Sexton
JG J. Giddey
JS J. Smith
LM L. Miller
MB M. Buzelis
NR N. Richards
PW P. Williams
RD R. Dillingham
TJ T. Jones
HOU/CHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur