Rockets at Bucks on Wednesday: Unbeaten Houston Takes Its 4-0 Start to Milwaukee Without Sengun
The Rockets are one of the Western Conference's two remaining unbeaten teams at 4-0 - but Wednesday night at Fiserv Forum (7 p.m. CT) they play their first game of the season without Alperen Sengun, out with low back soreness a night after his 29-point, near-triple-double game against Atlanta.
The Houston Rockets take a 4-0 record to Milwaukee on Wednesday night, and they take it short-handed. Alperen Sengun - who posted 29 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and a career-high six steals in Monday's 120-110 win over Atlanta - is out with low back soreness, according to the game-day injury reports. Steven Adams is also out, and Marcus Smart is questionable with a left forearm strain. Tipoff at Fiserv Forum is 7 p.m. Central.
The start Sengun is missing a piece of has been built on balance. Houston has scored at least 114 points in every game and allowed no more than 114; Kevin Durant has averaged 24 points a game on 56.1 percent shooting, Sengun 23 points with nine rebounds and 6.3 assists, Amen Thompson 10.3 rebounds a game and Fred VanVleet eight assists, with the team shooting 50.2 percent from the field. Wednesday tests whether that balance holds with the offense's hub in street clothes - and with Durant, who added 22 points and four blocks on Monday, carrying the creation load.
Milwaukee, 1-3, finally won on Monday, beating Indiana 110-102 behind Tyler Herro's 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in coach Taylor Jenkins's first victory, and lists every player as available. A win Wednesday would make Houston 5-0 and keep it tied at the top of the Southwest Division; a loss to a rested, healthy Bucks team missing no one would still leave the absence as the story. Either way, the Rockets' perfect start meets its first real complication on the road.
