Milwaukee Bucks vs. Houston Rockets Preview: Blast Off

The Milwaukee Bucks continue their road trip with a stop in Texas to take on the Houston Rockets before they’ll jet to Chicago on Friday evening.

Where We’re At

Milwaukee pulled off a hard-fought win against a Charlotte Hornets squad that was disinterested in merely giving up. The Bucks held an 18-point lead at one point, but the buzzy team of James Borrego started nailing a few triples and suddenly found themselves back in it for nearly the duration of the contest. Thankfully, in the closing stages, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo combined to overpower the Hornets and emerge with the 114-104 victory. Neither of the former two players had their best night, but Giannis made up for it with 29 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Brook Lopez looked like the second best player offensively, overwhelming a short Hornets team with his size on a 9-10 performance inside the arc, ending with 22 points. This will be their first game of the season against a Rockets team whose ambitions have gone nowhere but down since trading James Harden to Brooklyn early in the season.

Just a few games ago, former Buck D.J. Wilson went for 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 129-116 losing effort against the Denver Nuggets. It was their version of the “Thanasis Point God” game, essentially. In their most recent matchup, they “won” a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves by losing 114-107, with Kelly Olynyk leading all Houston scorers with 28. They are bottom five in offensive and defensive efficiency. Folks, it’s not pretty down there; let’s hope the Bucks are feeling generous and willing to help the Rockets tank.

Giannis (right ankle sprain) and Donte DiVincenzo are listed as probable, with Axel Toupane out. For Houston, D.J. Augustin and Sterling Brown are both out, so there goes that bit of this revenge tale. They’re also missing Dante Exum, Eric Gordon, David Nwaba and John Wall. Avery Bradley and Danuel House are both questionable.

Player to Watch

It’s gotta be Christian Wood, the most confident man in the world. I’m intrigued to see just how much he wants to show off in front of Bud with all the usage he can handle just awaiting for him on this Rockets team. He’s averaging 21.1 points and 9.8 rebounds this season.

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