Bucks at Rockets
The Milwaukee Bucks have won three in a row and rolled past the Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat on the first two stops of a four-game road trip. The Bucks will try to clinch a winning trip when they visit the Houston Rockets on Friday.
The Bucks are trying to turn around their season and make a move up the standings in the Eastern Conference, and getting the defense straightened out of late has been a key to the turnaround. “It is encouraging,” guard Jerryd Bayless told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "There's a lot of season left. We've just got to continue getting better and hopefully it all comes together at the right time." The Houston Rockets are having their own issues on the defensive end and surrendered 263 points in dropping their last two games. James Harden recorded 33 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and 14 assists in a 123-114 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday but could not keep his team from falling back to .500.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE BUCKS (19-25): Milwaukee held its last three opponents to an average of 90.7 points and is coming off a 91-79 victory at the Miami Heat on Tuesday. "We were getting stops and getting out and running,” Bucks interim coach Joe Prunty told reporters. “The stops were the catalyst. Then when we got it up the floor, even if we didn't get a fast-break point, we got into our offense quickly. We were able to move the ball second and third side and make them work defensively.” The Bucks are 5-2 in their last seven games since surrendering an average of 120 points in back-to-back losses to San Antonio and Chicago on Jan. 4 and 5.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (22-22): Harden did most of his damage on Wednesday without the help of center Dwight Howard, who left the game in the first minute with a sprained ankle. "He dominates the paint, so just rebounding, his offensive presence,” Harden told reporters. "Everything he brings to our team was missed.” Howard, whose status for Friday will be determined after he is evaluated on Thursday, was riding a streak of 10 straight double-doubles, capped by his 36-point, 26-rebound performance in Monday’s overtime loss at the Los Angeles Clippers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Bucks G O.J. Mayo (hamstring) missed the last three games and is questionable for Friday.
2. Rockets G Patrick Beverley (ankle) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
3. Houston has won four straight in the series while averaging 112.3 points.