Game 50: v Milwaukee Bucks 700pm ROOT!

[Nebula1]

James Harden attributes Houston's success without Dwight Howard to the Rockets' depth.

That theory will get tested longer than the club may have anticipated.

After receiving news Howard will be out the rest of February, the Rockets look to win for the sixth time in seven tries as they host the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.

Houston (34-15) has gone 4-1 without Howard, who has been out with a knee injury. He had a bone marrow aspirate injection before the Rockets' 101-90 victory over Chicago on Wednesday and is expected miss at least four more weeks.

The Rockets were outrebounded 60-47 against the Bulls, but Harden finished with 27 points, Trevor Ariza added 20 and Donatas Motiejunas had 15 and 10 rebounds.

Motiejunas is averaging 19.5 points over his last four after scoring 10.9 per game prior to that stretch.

"We've got so many weapons and so many guys who can contribute," Harden said. "It makes the game easier for everyone. It's a grind. It doesn't stop. I enjoy the journey. I enjoy the grind. That's what keeps me motivated and pushing every single day."

Howard's absence has done nothing to slow Houston, which has won seven of eight at home. Missing the three-time defensive player of the year hasn't stopped Houston from playing well on that end of the floor, either.

The Rockets have held opponents to an average of 94.4 points since Howard went down, exactly four fewer than what they're allowing per game on the season.

"Every night, our motto is to be aggressive (defensively)," Harden said. "We have so many guys playing and contributing that we don't worry about getting tired."

Harden scored 34 points and Motiejunas added 20 in a 117-103 win over Milwaukee on Nov. 29, the Rockets' third consecutive victory in the series. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 in that contest for the Bucks (27-22), who have won a season-high five straight.

Milwaukee lost prized rookie Jabari Parker to a torn ACL in December, but it has continued to experience quite a turnaround under first-year coach Jason Kidd following a 15-67 season in 2013-14.

The Bucks had four players score at least 20 points for the first time since 2009 in Wednesday's 113-105 overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers -- Antetokounmpo (25), Brandon Knight (24), Khris Middleton (21) and O.J. Mayo (21).

Mayo hit a jumper with 0.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to OT.

"We're just grinding," Mayo said. "Even if our energy isn't there, our heart and effort is there. We found a way to get that win."

Kidd has been most impressed how the holdovers from the conference's worst team and newcomers have come together to embrace a different system after the change in leadership.

Milwaukee sits in sixth place in the East.

"This is a new group, all the way from top to bottom," Kidd said. "As a whole, we have to learn each other and understand who we are. I think this group has grown pretty fast in terms of knowing what's important."

Milwaukee has won three straight on the road, but has dropped 12 of the last 14 in Houston.

[Nebula1]

So this is my hometown Bucks visiting so it's probably the biggest game of the regular season.


Got my tickets... enjoy the game y'all.


GIANNIS!

[Mr. E]

Thanks for getting the thread started!

I'm going to try to watch this one, but may end up just listening to it.

[000001]

we can tell is a huge game for you nebula ,your 2 loves rockets and bucks

enjoy the game my friend


------------------------------

for the rest of us is just another game

im expecting a similar game to the bulls game

rockets by 8

[Nebula1]

I'M FREAKING EXCITED FOR THE GAME


Too bad no Jabari or Dwight, but still T JONES and GIANNIS

[Nebula1]

[jwise44]

I know neb loves him some bucks but **** them

[cold_cowboy]

tjones had 30+ last year vs milwaukee, i hope he remembers, he needs to get rolling!

[JetLife]

All this Mayo ketchup hot sauce talk


Sent from the Villain

[Dcebucks11]

gg, hate the love the refs gave harden 2nite but he's a great player.

[Freefloater]

Boy we won again without Howard the Rim protector...how can that be?
he must be playing on Atlanta cause they are the best team in NBA right now....

[MaxRider]

i have no idea how this game go from 18 pts lead and down to 4

[000001]

good win

ariza shot the ball well

next portland /big game in the standings this game counts as 2

[000001]

Boy we won again without Howard the Rim protector...how can that be?
he must be playing on Atlanta cause they are the best team in NBA right now....

do you really believe we are better without howard????

[Freefloater]

Boy we won again without Howard the Rim protector...how can that be?
he must be playing on Atlanta cause they are the best team in NBA right now....

do you really believe we are better without howard????

it has nothing to do with belief just pure logic, eyetest and RESULTS....
on the other hand i believe Howard is a great guy and could be a great player if used differently...

ps
RIM PROTECTION MY ASS... how many times this season we were blown out of the building with him protecting the rim...some protection...

[texasholdem]

RIM PROTECTION MY ASS... how many times this season we were blown out of the building with him protecting the rim...some protection...

Dunno how accurate the data is but Feigen writes:

Rockets data has Howard rated the top rim protector in the league by a wide margin, allowing just 86 points per 100 possessions when opponents are within five feet of the basket on drives. No other center has a defensive rating better than 93 in those situations.

Opponents shoot just 37 percent in the post against Howard, fourth among players who have defended 200 shots in the post after Rudy Gobert, Tim Duncan and Anthony Davis.

Though there seemed to be relatively little debate about Howard’s worthiness to be selected to the All-Star team, he leads all Western Conference centers in defensive rating according to NBA.com.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2347 ... l-strength

[000001]

Boy we won again without Howard the Rim protector...how can that be?
he must be playing on Atlanta cause they are the best team in NBA right now....

do you really believe we are better without howard????

it has nothing to do with belief just pure logic, eyetest and RESULTS....
on the other hand i believe Howard is a great guy and could be a great player if used differently...

ps
RIM PROTECTION MY ASS... how many times this season we were blown out of the building with him protecting the rim...some protection...

i disagree

results of games a lot of times lie

rockets have won a lot of games were they played bad basketball this season ... only because harden is having a career year ...

howard alters so many shots during the games ,rim protector does not mean the other team is going to have 0 layups and 0 points inside the paint every game

that was bull s h i t vs the blazers corey brewer playing the center position in crunch time

we need howard back

[Freefloater]

do you really believe we are better without howard????

it has nothing to do with belief just pure logic, eyetest and RESULTS....
on the other hand i believe Howard is a great guy and could be a great player if used differently...

ps
RIM PROTECTION MY ASS... how many times this season we were blown out of the building with him protecting the rim...some protection...

i disagree

results of games a lot of times lie

rockets have won a lot of games were they played bad basketball this season ... only because harden is having a career year ...

howard alters so many shots during the games ,rim protector does not mean the other team is going to have 0 layups and 0 points inside the paint every game

that was bull s h i t vs the blazers corey brewer playing the center position in crunch time

we need howard back

who protected rim for miami heat champions 2 years in row and 4 time finalists in row...who is protecting rim for atalanta hawks now.... gimme a break with rim protection....

hes altering so many shots.. yeah i saw him bailing out a lot of bad shots by blocking them on their way down... i dont care if hes a good rim protector....if hes general play sucks...ruining the flow of the game and pilling up turnover upon turnover... hes a useless black hole and chemistry destroyer...

so while he may alter so many shots of oppoennts hes also altering so many of our shots...just him receiving the ball on the perimeter then having trouble making a simplest pass to a guard changs a lot of our shot for bad...

he alos changes how mchale is using DMO...DMO COULD BE SCORING 20-30 each night if fed the ball...

now understand me i dont say howard cant be a great player .. i believe he can be a player of great impact even when injured... i believe he can be even MVP but the way hes used under mchale or under rockets management is not good...

look at how little of DMO s offensive ingeniuosness is used by mchale... the same way mchale is transforming Howard into Dwarf...Pop would make DMO and Dwight into MVP type caliber players...

[Freefloater]

RIM PROTECTION MY ASS... how many times this season we were blown out of the building with him protecting the rim...some protection...

Dunno how accurate the data is but Feigen writes:

Rockets data has Howard rated the top rim protector in the league by a wide margin, allowing just 86 points per 100 possessions when opponents are within five feet of the basket on drives. No other center has a defensive rating better than 93 in those situations.

Opponents shoot just 37 percent in the post against Howard, fourth among players who have defended 200 shots in the post after Rudy Gobert, Tim Duncan and Anthony Davis.

Though there seemed to be relatively little debate about Howard’s worthiness to be selected to the All-Star team, he leads all Western Conference centers in defensive rating according to NBA.com.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2347 ... l-strength

stats is like bikini it reveals everything except that that matter sthe most..... ie useless garabage... Dwight is losing us a ton of games( and nerves ) when playing....

what you get in rim protection you lose in DMO ingenious post-ups... this is a true game changer

again receive this with caveat... under Pop or any normal coach/system Dwight could be a difference maker in a positive way...

[Nebula1]

^ You're clearly trolling