Houston @ Milwaukee
Current Records: Houston 16-50; Milwaukee 42-24
This Friday, the Houston Rockets are hoping to patch up the holes in a defense that has allowed an average of 115.67 points per game. They will head out on the road to face off against the Milwaukee Bucks at 8 p.m. ET Friday at Fiserv Forum. If the matchup is anything like the Rockets' 143-136 victory from their previous meeting in April, the scorekeeper will be kept real busy.
Houston found themselves the reluctant recipients of an unfortunate 135-115 punch to the gut against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday. One thing holding Houston back was the mediocre play of shooting guard DaQuan Jeffries, who did not have his best game: he finished with only five points on 2-for-10 shooting in his 40 minutes on the court.
Meanwhile, it was all tied up 71-71 at the half for Milwaukee and the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, but Milwaukee stepped up in the second half for a 135-134 win. Milwaukee can attribute much of their success to point guard Jrue Holiday, who had 29 points and six assists in addition to five rebounds, and power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 23 points and eight assists along with nine boards.
The Rockets are the clear underdogs, so they're hoping it's the size of the fight that determines this one. Those sticking with them against the spread have guts, to put it politely, as the squad has let down bettors in their past three games.
Milwaukee's victory lifted them to 42-24 while Houston's loss dropped them down to an irreparable 16-50. We'll see if the Bucks can repeat their recent success or if Houston bounces back and reverse their fortune.
The Bucks are a big 16.5-point favorite against the Rockets, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 16.5-point spread, and stayed right there.
Over/Under: -112
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Houston have won six out of their last 11 games against Milwaukee.
