The Rockets came to Chicago tonight, just one game after Kevin Durant surpassed Michael Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, to notch what was pegged to be an easy win on the road for them against the Bulls.
But they got punched in the mouth in the very first quarter and went down 21-41 after letting the Bulls hit seven threes and not making a single one.
This eventually became too big a hole for the Rockets to dig themselves out of as they managed to tie the game in the fourth, but Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey ended up hitting clutch threes to seal the 132-124 win for the Bulls.
Ime Udoka, the Rockets’ head coach, was ejected from the game in the final seconds after Kevin Durant pushed off Matas Buzelis and was called for an offensive foul to throw away any hopes that the Rockets had of completing the comeback.
After the game, Udoka spoke to the media and did not hold back from criticizing his own team.
“Poor start, disrespected the game, not prepared from the get-go. Just non-aggressive, following them around, watching them shoot. They had nothing to lose; they’re going to fire away.”
“Obviously, to give up 41 points in that first quarter is disappointing; it was one quarter that killed us, we weren’t prepared to play at all,” said Udoka in his opening remarks.
“It’s the NBA. You come out like that, you’re going to be inconsistent, you’re going to have bad losses, this is another one of them. Stop b———-g,” Udoka further added on what his message would be to the team after losing to worse teams like the Kings, the Warriors, and more.
Ime on what he needs to tell his team:
“Stop bullshitting” https://t.co/tV7LlMoAJf pic.twitter.com/TIS3HHvQjz
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) March 24, 2026
Subsequently, Udoka also spoke about the officials, but instead of criticizing them directly, chose the high road, with an interesting choice of vocabulary to express his disappointment while trying to avoid a fine.
“Flagrant was soft as hell, it was nothing, and then the techs were soft too. I’m not about to complain about a soft crew. It is what it is,” Udoka said in the final answer of his press conference.
The Rockets had a chance to reduce the difference between them and the Lakers tonight for the third seed, as they also lost to the Pistons. But they missed that chance and are now 2.5 games behind the Lakers with an extra game left to play.
Despite a 33-point triple-double from Alperen Sengun (33 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 16-19 FG, 84.2 FG%) and what ended up being Kevin Durant’s second 40-point game of the season (40 points, seven rebounds, five assists, 15-23 FG, 65.2 FG%), the Rockets could not find the win tonight.
As a result of tonight’s loss, the Rockets have fallen to 43-28 for the season and are sixth in the West currently. They are now headed to Minnesota in what could be a crucial game in deciding what their seeding for the playoffs looks like.
The Rockets will face the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, March 25. That game is very important in determining what the playoff bracket looks like in the West. Udoka will hope his team doesn’t come as unprepared as they seemingly looked to him tonight.
