Thursday, March 13th, 2014 4:00 PM on TNT

United Center, Chicago, Illinois

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After being signed in July, Dwight Howard has really found a place in Houston. His 23 points helped the Rockets come away with a win, 109-94 over the Bulls the last time the two teams met. James Harden and Chandler Parsons also scored 19 points apiece. Harden was playing with a recently sprained ankle, and before the injury he had scored 25 points in the previous five consecutive games.

Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 20 points, but it wasn't enough to compete with Houston's third quarter run. A 15-1 run with 5 1/2 minutes left put the Rockets up 83-66 going into the 4th. In that run the Bulls missed 6 shots and had 5 turnovers. Omri Casspi of the Rockets took advantage of the Bulls poor play and managed to put in 7 points during the stretch. Casspi had a total of 11 points, Patrick Beverley added 15, and Terrence Jones had a career-high six assists, all helping Houston come away with the victory.

Bulls point guard Kirk Hinrich sat out for the third straight game due to back stiffness. Taking his place was newly signed D.J. Augustin who didn't have a bad showing for his first start with eight points and nine assists. Jeremy Lin of Houston also missed his second game due to back problems. As of Tuesday Houston had won 5 straight games and both teams are sitting in 4th place in their conferences.

ATS Trends

Houston is 16-15 ATS on the road this season

Houston is 15-16 against the over/under on the road this season

Chicago is 16-15 ATS at home this season

Chicago is 10-21 against the over/under at home this season

Injuries to Watch

Houston

01/25/14 F Greg Smith Knee out indefinitely

Chicago

11/23/13 G Derrick Rose Knee out for season

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