Playing in the final matchup of a four-game homestand at Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Bucks welcomed in the Houston Rockets Friday night.
The Rockets were severely shorthanded heading into this matchup with only eight players available. To further highlight just how understaffed they were, Houston officially signed guard Khyri Thomas to a 10-day contract during the day on Friday, and not only did he suit up for them just hours later, but he played nearly 23 minutes against Milwaukee.
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These circumstances made it seem like the Bucks could handle this one with ease, but the depleted Rockets put up a fight and never gave in until the final buzzer sounded. After an eventful 48 minutes of back and forth action, the Bucks escaped with a 141-133 victory.
This was a massive win for Milwaukee as they have now jumped the Brooklyn Nets in the East standings to stand second in the conference. Both teams possess a 43-24 record, but the Bucks have a significant advantage over the Nets as they hold the tiebreaker in the season series.
It will be interesting to see if the Bucks can stand pat in that second spot with a handful of games left. Only time will tell how the standings eventually shake out, but here are three takeaways from Milwaukee’s turbulent win over Houston last night.
The Milwaukee Bucks survive another barrage of 3-pointers in win over Rockets
Largely thanks to knocking down a whopping 25 triples, the Rockets shocked the Bucks as they handed Milwaukee a 143-136 loss last week. That was against a rather healthy Houston team and although they were without a large portion of their roster in the rematch, they were still letting it fly with the utmost confidence.
Coincidentally, the eight players available for Houston shared a similar sense of self-assurance. Despite playing a nearly entire new group, the Rockets poured in 25 triples yet again throughout the contest by shooting 25-for-53 (47.2 percent) from range.
Kenyon Martin Jr. paved the way for the Rockets by shooting 6-for-10 from range and lit the Bucks up virtually every chance he got. Armoni Brooks was right behind him as he shot 5-for-9 from deep, and former Buck D.J. Augustin made his presence felt from the perimeter by shooting 4-of-9.
Thankfully, Houston’s bombardment of shots from behind the arc ended in a different result than it did in the first meeting of the season between the two. Although this was certainly another case of the Rockets catching the hot hand, these two matchups against Houston showcase that Milwaukee’s perimeter defense is still vulnerable.