(SportsNetwork.com) - It appears both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will reach the playoffs, but the two squads are coming off losing efforts. Watch the Rockets vs. Bulls live tonight on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. Something has to give when the Rockets pay a visit to the Bulls Thursday night at the United Center. The Rockets opened a tough three-game road trip with Tuesdays 106-98 loss at Oklahoma City, as James Harden netted 28 points and Chandler Parsons added 19. Dwight Howard was limited to nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Houston, which had a five-game winning streak stopped and fell to 18-13 on the road. The Rockets missed several opportunities to keep their winning streak intact. "We missed 15 layups out there," said Houston head coach Kevin McHale. "We went in there soft tonight. We didnt attack the rim." The Rockets are fourth in the Western Conference standings, one game behind the Los Angeles Clippers and four off the top seed. Houston will close the trip Sunday afternoon in Miami. Meanwhile, the Bulls will continue their quest for a playoff spot and a six- game homestand versus the Rockets. Chicago has alternated results in the last six games and dropped to 1-2 on the stay with Tuesdays 104-96 loss to San Antonio. Chicago was down 38-14 after the first quarter and a second-half surge fell short. "Theres nothing to take (from a game) when you get down by 30 and then make a run at the end. Weve got to get it figured out," Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau said. D.J. Augustin and Jimmy Butler scored 24 and 23 points, respectively, while Joakim Noah rounded out the double-digit scorers with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks. The Bulls shot 42.7 percent and committed 14 turnovers. The Bulls have a 19-12 record as the host and are fourth in the East standings, 1 1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors. They still have Sacramento and Oklahoma City slated to visit the United Center. Chicago suffered a 109-94 loss at Houston on Dec. 18 and was led by Butlers 20 points. Howard had 23 points in that one and both Harden and Parsons ended with 19 for the Rockets, who have won four in a row in this series. Houston is 7-3 in the last 10 trips to the Windy City. Joe Ross Jersey .3 million qualifying offer to outfielder Michael Cuddyer on Monday. Joe Ross Nationals Jersey . made a diving catch in left field for the final out in a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins in a regular-season finale Sunday. Zimmermann (14-5) allowed only two baserunners, finishing with 10 strikeouts and one walk in the fifth no-hitter in the majors this year. https://www.cheapnationals.com/857r-kyle-mcgowin-jersey-nationals.html . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner. Fernando Rodney Nationals Jersey .com) - Mike Conley scored 20 points with five assists to help the Memphis Grizzlies remain unbeaten with a 91-89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. Jake Noll Nationals Jersey . You can see all the action on TSN2 beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Chicago won two of three games during its stay at the United Center. The club began the homestand with a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh on March 1 and fell to Colorado on Tuesday before posting another blowout win in Thursdays tilt against Columbus.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Buffalo Sabres know that they have the entire country of Latvia behind them, but their recent string of success may start to bring the rest of Western New York back into the fold. When the Sabres fell to 3-13-2 following a loss to the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 13, those fans still left watching the club likely went to bed with continued fantasies of junior superstar Connor McDavid speeding around First Niagara Center sporting the navy blue and gold. After all, the Sabres seemed destined at having the best chance at securing the top selection in the upcoming draft, earning the right to select either McDavid or fellow center Jack Eichel. Both players are believed to have the ability to cornerstone a franchise, something Buffalo seemed to desperately need at the time. Maybe the Sabres still do, but head coach Ted Nolan and his players werent really on board with the whole tanking thing and have instead decided to, you know, go out and win games. Buffalo has won eight of 11 since that loss to the Wild. Now tied for 26th out of the 30 teams in the overall NHL standings, the Sabres are talking -- and more importantly playing -- like a team that believes it can win each night. I think this team has taken a 180 from where we were at the start of the year, said forward Matt Moulson. I think now we believe in each other and were competing a lot harder. We know what we have to do to have success and get wins. Thursdays home encounter with the Calgary Flames, a gutsy 4-3 win, was a perfect example of Sabres hockey as of late. Twice in the game, the Sabres failed to hold a lead and they then fell behind by a goal just 3:14 into the third frame. The Buffalo Sabres that took the ice in October and the early part of November likely would have folded and gone home, but not this newly-inspired bunch. Instead, future All-Star Zemgus Girgensons (more on that later) put home a game-tying goal and Moulson came through with a game-winner with 7:29 to play. That gave the Sabres a victory despite the squad getting outshot 45-19. It wasnt one of our better games, but it showed that the belief factor is starting to creep in. We werent in the game, but we still bellieved we could come back, said Nolan.dddddddddddd. There is no doubt that Nolans club plays with fire each night. Even during its string of success, the Sabres have scored more than two goals only twice in their last nine and remain dead-last in the NHL with 1.66 goals per game. But confidence in the defense and goaltending, especially Jhonas Enroth, has been key. The Sabres have allowed two goals or fewer five times over the aforementioned nine-game span and have avoided beating themselves with bad mistakes. Youre not going to have an A-game every night, but if youre doing those little things right, theyre going to pay off, noted Moulson. It has certainly helped Enroth, who is 7-2-0 over his last nine games with a 1.93 goals against average and .944 save percentage. Nolan pointed out after Thursdays win how the line of Moulson, Girgensons and Tyler Ennis, one that was put together back in mid-November, has helped to spark the club. Girgensons, meanwhile, is starting to become a little famous around the NHL, much like he already is back in his home country of Latvia. The 20-year-olds goal versus the Flames was his career-high ninth of the season, surpassing the eight he scored in 70 games as a rookie last season. Now, nine goals through 29 games and 16 points that dont even lead the team certainly dont scream All-Star, but the much-argued tradition of fan voting has led to an unforeseen turn of events. When Tuesdays update of the All-Star voting was released, Girgensons continued to pace the pack with 803,805 votes. To put that into perspective, the second-leading getter in votes is Chicagos Patrick Kane -- with 375,758. That, of course, is possible due to online voting, giving the entire world a say in who will skate in this seasons All-Star Game. According to the Sabres, 82 percent of Girgensons votes came from Latvians. Its crazy. People back home are just crazy hockey fans, Girgensons, the 14th overall pick of the 2012 draft and native of Riga, Latvia, told NHL Live on Wednesday. Its always been like that. Its fun, its cool, mixed emotions. Its funny at the same time. What isnt funny is teams still expecting to pick up easy wins against the Sabres. ' ' '