Game Thread: Bucks/Rockets

A backboard post-Carl Landry. (via DraftExpress)

Bucks (15-17, 7-12 road) @ Rockets (20-12, 10-4 home)

Gametime: 6:00 p.m. central time (FS Wisconsin)

Injuries:

Bucks: None.

Rockets: Shane Battier (foot) is not expected to play.

08/09 Series:

Nov. 9: @Rockets 104 Bucks 88

Feb 2: Rockets 91 @Bucks 83

08/09 Advanced Stats:

Bucks Offense: 23rd (104.3 points/100 possessions) Defense: 8th (103.9)  Pace:  11th (92.6)

Rockets Offense: 10th (107.8 points/100 possessions) Defense: 5th (103.6) Pace: 23rd (90.2)

Three points:

• Landry/CV. Last season the main matchup was Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. Now, the focus is on a different pair of big men: Carl Landry and Charlie Villanueva. Holiday season rumors swirled that Landry, a former standout at Milwaukee Vincent High School, could be a trade target of Milwaukee's, and CV is seemingly always on the tip of the trade talk tongue. If CV is perimter-oriented (62 % of his attempts are jumpers) then Landry plays in the paint (15 % of his attempts are slam dunks). In fact, Landry has as many dunks (32) as Yao Ming, and in 392 fewer minutes.
• Washed away. The Rockets are coming off an inexplicable 89-87 home loss on Monday to a Washington club missing Caron Butler. Antawn Jamison was also ailing, and the Wiz made just 1-11 (.091) from long range. But Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady shot 10-31 (.322) from the field and leading scorer Ron Artest (20 pts) coughed up the ball six times. Houston has actually dropped three of its past four, though the other losses (@Cleveland, @New Orleans) were a bit more understandable than the Washington loss.
  
• Two guards. Two of the most prolific scorers of the past half-dozen years match up at shooting guard, but neither Michael Redd nor Tracy McGrady have eclipsed 30 points this season. Redd hit for 30 in the first game of the year, and McGrady's season-high is also 30 points, which he notched back on Nov. 6. Granted, both players have been slowed by injury, but both Redd (18.9 ppg) and McGrady (15.8) are way down in scoring. Redd has averaged 21+ per game for five straight seasons and McGrady has averaged 21+ for eight straight years.

Coverage:

The Dream Shake / Houston Chronicle