The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Houston Rockets 126-106 at Fiserv Forum on Wednesday, securing their 20th win, the second team to do so in the Eastern Conference.

Giannis Antetokounmpo continued to sit on this game as he is still on the league's COVID-19 protocol list. Bobby Portis is on that list too. And Brook Lopez has not recovered from back injury either.

That's why DeMarcus Cousins, who is on a minimum contract, started for the Bucks at home on Wednesday and received 28 minutes on the floor. Having shot at 7-13 in field goals (FGs), the 31-year-old former All-Star center had 18 points and eight rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.

Though he's not athletic anymore, Cousins could still bully the Rockets' young men with his power and skills in the paint, where he was 6-9 and drew three free throws.

Wesley Matthews was another veteran of the Bucks that made surprising offensive contributions after going 4-5 from downtown to score 16 points. Three of his triples were made in the second quarter, enabling the Bucks to drive a 38-26 run for a safe lead (63-50) after the first half.

Matthews was in quarantine previously while he learnt the death of his grandmother. He had a great performance on Wednesday to honor her.

"It meant the world to me because my grandma meant the world to me," Matthews said. "What brought her the most joy was watching me play. There was no doubt. I knew what I had to do."

Despite their incomplete squad, the Bucks were a better-operating team with the solid contributions from veterans and leadership of Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton. Holiday had a double-double of 24 points and 10 assists plus two steals. Middleton missed four of his five attempts at the 3-point line, but he made it up with eight free throws to get 23 points.

The Rockets miss no one for COVID-19-related reasons. The absence of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. because of injuries gave the team more opportunities to hold commodity show.

Christian Wood had a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds after missing all six triples and drawing 11 free throws. As a finisher, he could achieve excellent efficiency but so far he has shown almost no ability or intention to pass in screen plays.

It was not a productive night for Eric Gordon on Wednesday but he is still the team's most reliable ball handler and can cause some damage when he gets the chance to hit the rim. Moreover, Gordon is strong enough to switch among point guard, shooting guard and small forward. The futures of him and the Rockets will hardly overlap. The question is, how much does a team want to spend to land him for playoff strength reserve?

Nonetheless, while the Rockets may receive many calls to discuss trade of players like Wood or Gordon, they also need to think hard about their ongoing rebuilding, specifically, who they should rebuild around.

Alperen Sengun so far has been a bigger hopeful than Green and Porter Jr. Though he couldn't stop Cousins defensively, Sengun did a remarkable finishing job under the rim, shooting at 4-5 to score 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Unlike most big men from Europe, he built his game on combination of footwork, speed and dribbles instead of mature shooting. Thanks to his toughness, Sengun is a productive free throw shooter.

Compared with him, Green and Porter Jr. show more problems than hope in their games. Green couldn't read the game well enough to exploit his athleticism and explosiveness in most occasions, not to mention that he often had to share the floor with Porter Jr., who lacks the ability to scan the floor.

It's only the first year for Green and Sengun and the Rockets have more then enough assets for rebuilding, but a complete start-over could easily go off the track with one incorrect decision and take longer time to fix.

Other games on Wednesday (away teams come first):

Orlando Magic 104-98 Atlanta Hawks

Denver Nuggets 94-108 Oklahoma City Thunder

Los Angeles Clippers 105-89 Sacramento Kings