Location: Toyota Center, Houston, TX TV: ESPN Radio: KBME 790 AM/KEYH 850 AM (Spanish)/KNTE 101.7 FM (Spanish)/Streaming on Rockets App Online: Rockets App Nuggets SBNation Blog: Brew Hoop Projected Starting Lineups Denver: Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez Houston: Austin Rivers, James Harden, Danuel House Jr., P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela After taking down the West’s best on Monday the Rockets will face off against the revamped Milwaukee Bucks who have burst onto the scene with a three point barrage seemingly orchestrated by Daryl Morey moonlighting as a Wisconsin-based assistant general manager. The Rockets lead the league with 42.8 threes attempted per game. Milwaukee comes in second at 38.9 threes attempted per game. Up from 24.8 three attempts last season. Expect lots of long rebounds and irrelevant inside positioning as these teams hoist away. The MVP award won’t be decided for another 40+ NBA games, but that hasn’t stopped the NBA from talking as if the award will be decided tomorrow. James Harden’s masterpiece against the Golden State Warriors elevated him above Giannis Antetokounmpo for at least the last week. Tonight’s game will put the two face-to-face... or maybe face to shoulder blade... for the first time this season. Harden’s incredible numbers since Chris Paul’s injury have brought his averages to 33.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 8.7 apg. The Greek Freak is posting 26.6 pgg, 12.6 rpg and 6 apg. Milwaukee is averaging seven more points per game than the Rockets as a team, 117.6, but it’s almost assured that whichever team splashes from downtown the most tonight will come away with a W. Throw down your comments in the comments section, TDS. Go Rockets!<doc-sep>The pleasures of a six-game home stand - sleeping in one’s own bed, familiar facilities, close proximity to Kopp’s - give way to life on the road for the Milwaukee Bucks. Their three game trip starts off against James Harden and his merry band of long-range riflemen. Bucks Update After dropping a game to their Eastern Conference foe for top billing, the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee managed to bounce back with a confident performance against an undermanned Utah Jazz team. Yes, Ricky Rubio left early in the game and the Jazz were missing some integral pieces, but Rudy Gobert gave Giannis Antetokounmpo all he could handle in the paint with the Greek Freak finishing at 30 points (on 30 shots) and 10 rebounds. Milwaukee’s confidence finishing them out in the fourth was a promising sign, particularly after some of the team’s early season struggles at the ends of games. Tonight’s game presents a difficult defensive battle for Bud’s system. Milwaukee, as we all know, gives up the highest percentage of 3-point attempts from their opponent in the league. Conversely, the Rockets take the highest percentage of their shots from deep, an absolutely staggering 47% per Cleaning The Glass (Milwaukee is second at 39.6%). Milwaukee’s been a bit better at corralling treys in the corners from opponents (ranked 12th in the league), but the Rockets rank first in those locations as well. Meanwhile, the midrange may as well be the source of a bubonic plague breakout to them and they only shoot the 20th highest percentage of shots at the rim, another high efficiency area that Milwaukee’s been excellent at deterring opponents from. Harden is gonna Harden, but the Bucks need to ensure the Rockets supporting cast aren’t the ones punishing them for overhelping towards the reigning MVP. Player to Watch: Brook Lopez Splash Mountain’s 3-point propensity continues to astound, and will be particularly important tonight with the Rockets collection of paint-ground centers in Clint Capela and Nene Hilario. While drawing them away on the offensive end will be helpful, the more fascinating chess match will be on the defensive end. James Harden’s gunning means Coach Bud may have Lopez shading up just a touch on pick-and-rolls rather than taking up residence in the lane. However, it’s possible he just concedes those Harden shots, relies on his defender working around a perimeter screen and Lopez remains down low to contest Capela oops or Harden drives. Rockets Update Fresh off a 12-point waxing of the West’s best team, the Denver Nuggets, the Rockets are riding a high since James Harden turned the heat to high on his celebration pot. After a loss to Dallas on December 8, they’ve gone 12-2 since. Their offense is in the top five for the season, not quite at last year’s mark, but they’re still a fearsome force. Over this hot stretch, they’re posting a blazing 117.2 offensive rating, second only to their Texas brethren, the San Antonio Spurs. The big bugaboo has been, along with Chris Paul’s injury, their defense. After ranking 7th last season utilizing Jeff Bzdelik’s switch-happy system, they haven’t found the magic this year, ranking 26th overall (111.6) per NBA.com. Even after Bzdelik’s return to the team, their personnel hasn’t been able to re-capture that stifling mentality. This run has largely been fueled by offensive explosion rather than defensive clampdowns, as their defensive rating ticked up just slightly to 110.6 during this 12-2 stretch. Houston also posts the fifth-highest free throw attempt rate in the league, per Cleaning the Glass, largely due to Harden’s Oscar-worthy methods at the rim. We’ve groused plenty about Giannis not getting as many calls as maybe he should attacking the basket, so juxtaposing that with Harden should only exacerbate those cries. More importantly, it will be an excellent test for the Bucks’ who have the second lowest foul rate defensively in the league. Keep an eye on the pace tonight too, as the Rockets iso-ball churns out the third slowest pace in the league compared to Milwaukee’s fifth fastest. The Rockets should be without both Chris Paul and Eric Gordon tonight. Player to Watch: James Harden I could say Gerald Green since he might still harbor some ludicrous ill-will towards the Bucks for not bringing him in after last year’s training camp, but I’m hoping he’ll be a brickfest all night. Let’s just say I’m somewhat glad Donte DiVincenzo is on the bench to avoid any slim possibility of this same fate happening to The Big Ragu: James Harden dropped Jamal Murray pic.twitter.com/ndk3zmsHc3 — Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) January 8, 2019<doc-sep>Giannis Antetokounmpo is one strong, athletic basketball player. We all know he pretty much every skill and trait you'd want in a player. He can play all five positions, he's 6-foot-11 and 242 pounds of chiseled muscle. Not to mention, he's arguably the best player in the game today and would probably win the MVP award if the season ended right now. And while he's produced plenty of highlights dunking on people and blocking shots, this one takes the cake for his 2018-19 season highlight. What exactly did he do, you ask? The Milwaukee Bucks star darted a pass off of James Harden's head in Wednesday night's win over the Rockets -- unintentionally, of course (at least I assume). Not only did the "Greek Freak" nearly knock out Harden with this pass, but he also defeated his top competition for the MVP award as the Bucks beat the Houston Rockets, 116-109. Antetokounmpo had a huge game as he posted 27 points, 21 rebounds and five assists while Harden had a monster night with 42 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Let's just summarize it like this -- Harden took an "L" in more ways than one tonight. So did his noggin.<doc-sep>
Finally, we’ve reached the end of what will easily be Houston’s roughest stretch of schedule for the entire year. So far, Houston is 7-1 on this brutal stretch and have done all of it without the services of Chris Paul and have played their last four without Eric Gordon. Houston finished 4-1 against West teams likely to make the playoffs, 2-0 against the “worst” two teams in the group (Memphis and New Orleans-both on the road), and won their game against the East’s fifth-best team, Boston. The Milwaukee Bucks come into town tonight, the cherry on top of this turd sandwich of a stretch. After facing the best team in the West, the Rockets get the second-best team in the East (a win over Houston would once again give the Bucks the top win percentage in the league). Obviously, the Bucks are led by their impossibly long superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo. The aptly nicknamed “Greek Freak” is getting most of the pub for this game after being the MVP favorite until James Harden ended the Warriors game with his iconic shot. “Oh, typical AK,” you’re saying. “Stop lying about Giannis getting the publicity. Everyone is featuring both of these guys equally!” Oh really? Then tell me, where’s Harden in this ESPN commercial? Back to the game itself. Milwaukee is tied with Houston for third-best offensive efficiency. What makes the Bucks scary is that they are fourth on the defensive side. They boast the league’s best eFG percentage, the best rebounding rate, and the second-best true shooting percentage. While Giannis himself can barely shoot (17% from deep), it hardly matters since he can get to the rim in half a step. The Bucks have wisely surrounded him with deep shooters and slashers. If you pack the paint, get ready for Khris Middleton (38% from deep), Brook Lopez (38%), and Malcolm Brogdon (43%) to cook you from deep. And if they don’t get you, Eric Bledsoe can carve you up too. It would be really cool to get this win, especially with the rest of the top West teams starting to find their groove. However, I think the Bucks just have too much for Houston and are a matchup nightmare for the Rockets. I think Harden will give everything as usual, but this Bucks team has the length to slow him down and make other players make plays. They did against Denver, and they will need to repeat that tonight for Houston to have a shot. Prediction: Bucks win 118-107 Tip-off is at 7pm CT on ESPN