Houston Rockets vs Bucks: 2017-18 Game 28: Five things to watch

The 23-4 Houston Rockets demonstrated why they’re one of the best teams in NBA last night by destroying the San Antonio Spurs 124-109. It seems nothing fazes this team in terms of competition and all we’re waiting on for them is to take on the Golden State Warriors, which will be early next month.

The Houston Rockets have soared to a 12-game win streak with the team being challenged from all aspects. No matter what — their perseverance shines throughout and it has been a pleasure to watch them thus far. They’ll take on the 15-12 Milwaukee Bucks tonight, a team that is featuring a few nice pieces in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton. They’re still missing something and their team defense is not good, giving up 106.5 points per 100 possessions (ranked 19th).

It will be interesting match up to watch the Greek Freak do his thing but I see another blowout tonight by the Houston Rockets.

1.) So who’s leading the charge for the Bucks?

Giannis Antetokounmpo is still the man — leading the team in points (29.9 PPG) and rebounds (10.5 RPG). Khris Middleton is the top assist man (4.6 APG), Eric Bledsoe has it covered with the steals (2.1 SPG) and John Henson is the top shot-blocker (1.6 BPG).

2.) Let’s talk about what the Bucks do well.

They’ve gotten better with their offense strategy. The Bucks are 9th in offensive efficiency, averaging 107.2 points per 100 possessions. That’s up fro 13th in 2016-17, averaging 106.9 points per 100.

They’re excellent at keeping that ball moving. The Bucks are 3rd in assist ratio, with 18.6 percent of their possessions ending with an assist.

They’re shooting well as a team. The Bucks are 6th — tied with the Washington Wizards — in effective field goal percentage (52.8) and 7th in true shooting percentage (56.5).

3.) Injuries:

Clint Capela bruised his left heel in last night’s tilt with the San Antonio Spurs, he has been deemed as QUESTIONABLE for tonight.

Luc Mbah a Moute dislocated his shoulder on a hard spill after a breakaway dunk in Wednesday’s contest against the Charlotte Hornets, having to exit the game early and not

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return. He has had an MRI done indicating that there’s no significant damage and could be back within the next two to three weeks. The team will re-evaluate his recovery progress next week.

Matthew Dellavedova and Tony Snell have been both dealing with with knee injuries causing them to miss time as a result. They’ve already been ruled OUT for tonight.

Jabari Parker is still recovering from the second tear in the ACL of his left knee, causing him to be sidelined until at least February. The team has been humming along without him but they’d be so much better with him. I’m a fan of his so hopefully this injury isn’t debilitating to the rest of his career.

Source(s): Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle the Houston Rockets and Milwaukee Bucks

4.) Matchups to Watch:

Clint Capela vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo
Trevor Ariza vs. Khris Middleton
Chris Paul vs. Eric Bledsoe

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5.) Prediction:

119-103 in a Houston Rockets’ win!

The Rockets are at home to take on the Bucks at Toyota Center.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST.

The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and broadcast on SportsTalk 790 AM, Sirius 205, XM/SiriusXM 214 (Internet 890) and La Ranchera 101.7 FM (KNTE) & 850 AM (KEYH) in Spanish.

Go Rockets.

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