Preview: Bulls at Rockets

[December 18, 2013]  (SportsDirect Inc.) — The Houston Rockets might be without star guard James Harden when they host the injury ravaged Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Harden sprained his left ankle in Sunday’s victory over the Sacramento Kings and missed his second consecutive day of practice on Tuesday. “The next morning (after the injury), it was hard for me to walk,” Harden said. “Now I can walk and jump on it a little bit so I’m just trying to ice it and keep the swelling down.”

The Rockets won’t receive any sympathy from the Bulls if Harden can’t play after Chicago’s run of injuries that include Derrick Rose’s season-ending knee injury and a toe ailment that forced Jimmy Butler out of the lineup for 11 days. The Bulls could be without point guard Kirk Hinrich (back) for the third straight game and have lost 11 of their last 14 contests. Houston coach Kevin McHale will be back on the sideline after missing three games due to his mother’s death.

TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, WGN (Chicago), CSN Houston

ABOUT THE BULLS (9-14): Offensive production has been a severe problem with Chicago averaging just 79.5 points while losing five of its last six games. The Bulls scored fewer than 80 points in four of those contests and were repeatedly out-of-sync. “It’s not pretty right now,” forward Mike Dunleavy said after the team shot 34.6 percent from the field in Monday’s 83-82 loss to the Orlando Magic. “We’re battling, we’re trying. But we seem to be coming up short. We can’t get any easy baskets. Defensively, we’ve been pretty solid, good enough to win. The other end of the court is doing us in.”

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (16-9): Forward Chandler Parsons hopes to play despite being hindered by back and toe issues. Count him as one of the many Houston players happy to see McHale back on the sideline as well. “Not having his voice or his face over there, it makes a big difference,” Parsons told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m just glad to have him back. He seemed like he was in good spirits. As players, we’re going to do everything we can to make him feel comfortable and just continue to play hard and try to win games for him.”

BUZZER-BEATERS

1. Houston swept two games from the Bulls last season and has posted three straight series wins overall.
   

2. Butler had just four points on 1-of-11 shooting against Orlando in his third game back from injury.
   

3. Rockets G Jeremy Lin (back) will likely sit out his second straight game.
   

PREDICTION: Rockets 107, Bulls 89

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