The Houston Rockets (51-13) did not pee at the Milwaukee Bucks (34-31) and won 110:99 (BOXSCORE). That makes James Harden and Co. unbeaten since legendary 17 games in a row – the longest series in the season so far.
After yesterday’s success in OKC, the rockets started with a few minor mistakes, but they still managed to gain the lead because James Harden was able to switch gears and reign once again. The Pick-n-Roll-Defense of the Bucks was not enough at first, and Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his second foul early on. After that, the hosts slowed down the pace, which Houston didn’t like. The game was now more even-tempered, though not of the highest quality. The rockets now took better care of the ball, but stayed as cold as possible from the outside, so Milwaukee stayed within striking distance. But when the Bucks returned to their little lineup, Harden maltreated the hosts with his drives – a 58:46 lead at the break was the result, also because the bearded man hit the siren with a very deep threesome.
After the change, the same picture: The Rockets started with a 7:0 run really strong and took the hall a little bit of energy. Giannis turned up a little bit, the rockets made some avoidable mistakes again and after a threesome from Rookie Sterling Brown the hosts were suddenly back on four points. But the rockets can simply fire and after throwing them at a distance (Eric Gordon 2x, P. J.). Tucker) the two-digit leadership was restored – with Harden on the bench.
This didn’t get into danger for a long time as Houston had the right answer to smaller Bucks-Runs again and again – preferably from downtown. But in the last few minutes, Houston seemed to be running out of air. Brown narrowed to five points a minute before the end, but Paul made the final decision with a turnaround jumper on the other side.
Top scorer of the Rockets was Harden with 26 points, of course, and he was supported by Sixth Man Eric Gordon (18,4/7 Dreier), who provided a lot of momentum in the third quarter with some deep threesomes. Chris Paul (16,11 Assists) remained rather inconspicuous, but recorded a double-double. In the Bucks, the trio of Antetokounmpo (30,11/18 FG), Khris Middleton (18,10 Rebounds) and Eric Bledsoe (15) scored best, with Jabari Parker (10) and Brown (15) coming from the bank.
Milwaukee Bucks (34-31) vs. Houston Rockets (51-13)99:110 (BOXSCORE)
James Harden. Just an ordinary day at the beard’s office. The aggressive Bucks defence did not deter the MVP candidate from scoring either. Already at the break Harden had 21 points on the account and also met again his throws from a distance. In the last 2:50 minutes in the second quarter he outscorte the bucks on his own with 12:9. Also his defense was worth mentioning this time, because he often had to defend against Giannis after Switches. The Greek had no success in the post office, which made the offense of the Bucks visibly slacken.
Eric Bledsoe. No chance against Chris Paul in the defensive and offensively not the factor the bucks needed. Since the rockets focused on Giannis, the playmaker got his open experiments, which he could only make use of in parts. He also moved very little off the ball and made it easy for Houston. Also weak: Tony Snell, who almost always had to let Harden pass and did not have any offensive influence (1/4 threesome).
Without Tyler Zeller, the Bucks tried their best with only one center, John Henson, for the complete 48 minutes. When Henson is taken out, Antetokounmpo slips to the five. However, the Greek was hardly to be found in the defense near the basket, which is why the rockets were able to score many easy points in the zone. After the break it got better, the communication was right, the rotations were sitting now and Houston was not made so easy anymore. However, Chris Paul disassembled the small lineup completely, Bucks coach Joe Prunty did not react at all.