NBA Schedule: Top 5 games from Week 1 of the 2019-20 season

#4 Bucks vs Rockets: October 24th, 2019, 8:00 PM

Former MVP vs reigning MVP

A Thursday night matchup in Houston between Milwaukee and the Rockets will be awesome. Everyone wants to see if Westbrook and Harden, two ball-dominant guards, can alter their games enough to co-exist on the court together. The last time these two shared an NBA court while in the same team jersey was when both played for the OKC Thunder and lost an NBA Finals in 2012 to the Miami Heat.

There is also the subplot of the reigning MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo against the former MVP James Harden. Will either or both be in contention for that award again? There is also a possibility this could be an NBA Finals matchup in 2020 if things work out a certain way - especially in the West where Houston likely has to contend with the likes of the Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets, and Trail Blazers.

The Bucks are likely to be one of the top teams in the East again and are mostly intact after the offseason saw them lose just Malcolm Brogdon to the Indiana Pacers but re-sign starters Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez. It was also Milwaukee’s coaching staff that devised an interesting exaggerated defense in 2019 designed to force Harden to his weaker right hand, force him to use his almost non-existant mid-range game, and harass him into turnovers.