NBA highlights on Jan. 6: Rockets make a good example of how to beat Bucks

The Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 112-108 at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, shutting down the opponents' efforts of trying to come back from a 21-point deficit.

The Rockets are quite a surprise this season with a 17-17 record before Saturday night, but on paper, they don't have the best defensive resources to contain Giannis Antetokounmpo who outsizes every of the Rockets' best defenders. In fact, they didn't even slow the "Greek Freak" down as he shot 16-for-25 from the field to score 48 points and 17 assists. His continuous charging of the paint caused bad damage on the Rockets in 21 free throws and 12 fouls on him.

Nonetheless, keeping Antetokounmpo from dominating the floor is not the prerequisite of defeating the Bucks. At least the Rockets found another way. They stood Antetokounmpo's ferocious individual attack, but didn't allow him to get his teammates involved. The Greek Freak delivered only two assists with two turnovers.

The Rockets stopped at nothing to contain the Bucks' 3-point shooting in Saturday's game. They beat through every screen for Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton. The team went 9-for-34 from downtown after the three combined to miss 17 of their 19 triple attempts. Pat Connaughton became the only positive contributor from the outside, but the three 3-pointers he made were not enough for his side to wipe the double-digit deficit from the first quarter.

The Rockets also punched hard at the Bucks' defensive vulnerabilities, which were everyone else besides for Antetokounmpo. Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet and Jeff Green, all exploiting Lopez’s slow mobility by calling screens on the player he guarded to either shoot off the dribble out of his reach or beat him with speed to attack the open rim. As long as they didn't try to challenge Lopez in the restricted area, his power as an elite shot blocker could not be released.

At least Lopez could still make defensive contributions of protecting the hoop. By contrast, Lillard was being targeted by nearly every Rocket, ranging from VanVleet, Jalen Green, Cam Whitmore and Alperen Sengun. The size advantage of Antetokounmpo and Lopez was relatively exaggerated in Saturday's game because the Bucks were outmatched in every other position in size, power and athleticism.

That's why Antetokounmpo's 48 points aside, the Bucks only had another two players, Lillard and Middleton, get double-digit points and neither reached 20. By contrast, the Rockets saw seven on their rotations, four from the starting lineup and three off the bench, score double-figure points.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Boston Celtics 118-101 Indiana Pacers

The Celtics ended the Pacers' six-game winning streak after Jayson Tatum dominated Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. He knocked down eight triples out of 13 attempts to drop 38 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Jaylen Brown didn't share his superb touch behind the arc, but shot 12-for-15 in the paint, added another 31 points for the Celtics.

The Pacers were limited to 41.3 percent of field goal (FG) rate at home. The whole team missed 34 of their 42 triple attempts. Tyrese Haliburton had five steals, but went as poorly as 5-for-17 from the field to get only 17 points and seven assists with four turnovers.

New York Knicks 121-105 Washington Wizards

The Knicks secured their fourth straight win on Saturday as Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle combined to score 72 points and 13 assists at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. Isaiah Hartenstein got only eight points, but he grabbed as many as 19 rebounds and had four steals, two blocks.

The Wizards saw their losing streak extended to four games. Jordan Poole shot 4-for-10 in FGs to get 10 points with a plus-minus rating of -1. According to NBA Central, his total rating on this front reached -342, the worst of all 520 NBA players who appeared on the floor this season.

Utah Jazz 120-109 Philadelphia 76ers

The 76ers rested their ace Joel Embiid on Saturday night, The rest of the team couldn't put up effective resistance against the Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Lauri Markkanen was unstoppable from both inside and outside, draining five 3-pointers and going 7-for-10 in the paint to score 33 points and 13 rebounds. Collin Sexton had a double-double as well of 22 points and 10 assists.