The Houston Rockets play host to the Milwaukee Bucks in Orlando on Sunday.

The Bucks (54-12) pulled off a wire-to-wire win in their return to action on Friday, doing that damage against a tough Boston Celtics team. A return to action like that is all fans could have hoped for and it's really encouraging that they picked up right where they left off. What makes it even more reassuring is the fact that they did it without Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton. Both players continue to miss games because of conditioning from COVID and it's scary to think how good they'll be when these dynamic players return to the court. In any case, they still have Giannis Antetokounmpo, who provided 36 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists on 14-of-20 shooting in that win. He took down MVP honors last season and there's some talk that he'll repeat this year and walk away with the Defensive Player of the Year Award as well.

The Rockets (41-24) pulled off an amazing win in their return to action on Friday. While they trailed for most of the game to the Dallas Mavericks, they went on a late run to send the game into overtime and finished the extra session on a 14-6 spurt to prevail. James Harden was an absolute freak in that game, tallying 49 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocks. They also got a near triple-double from Russell Westbrook and it was encouraging to see them win despite allowing 149 points to the Mavericks. That's simply the recipe for the Rockets at this point though, playing up-tempo matchups and trying to out-run opponents with their small-ball.

These teams faced off in the season opener, with Milwaukee prevailing, 117-111. This game is expected to be even more high-scoring, with both clubs picking up their pace since then.