James Harden is one of the best in the NBA (Image credit: Getty)
The NBA regular season has started and there have already been some tasty match-ups player.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the new–look LA Clippers and another big game sees the Houston Rockets face the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Rockets made one of the biggest moves in the off-season by landing Russell Westbrook and they kept hold of James Harden.
Houston lost Chris Paul in the process, and it will be interesting to see how two players that want the ball will do under Mike D’Antoni.
The Bucks didn’t make big changes to their side thanks to the presence of Giannis Antetokounmpo. They did sign Kyle Korver, who should provide the ‘Greek Freak’ with more shooting options.
The pre-season was a mixed bag for the sides, the Bucks won all five of their games while the Rockets won three and lost two.
This Eastern-Western Conference clash will be one to savour given the quality of talent in the teams.
The Rocket confirmed that Westbrook will be ready to play and won’t have a restriction on minutes against the Bucks (h/t Dream Shake).
The Eastern Conference side have their own boost with Eric Bledsoe set to start for them against the Rockets (h/t NBA Milwaukee Bucks).
Dream 11 requires a team to feature at least three players from each team, and that shouldn’t be a problem with the plethora of talent on both sides.
With Bledsoe confirmed to start on Thursday, the Bucks star should be in the side. Westbrook is another big name to have in the tie while Chris Clemons has been included in the team to balance out the credits.
Harden is one of the best players in the game and ‘The Beard’ keeps the ball a lot. There should be several drives to the basket by the Rockets star, and he is the only shooting guard in this Dream 11 line-up.
The other Antetokounmpo brother has been put into the team to balance the credits out, but even he could get some points on the board.
Korver could be a smart signing from the Bucks this season, and it will be interesting to see how many minutes he gets in the season opener.
The former Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers star is great with the threes, and that could help the Bucks a lot.
One power forward is all that is needed in this game with Giannis the selection for this position. The ‘Greek Freak’ was excellent in the previous campaign and would want to continue that in this season too.
The majority of the scoring will be done by Westbrook, Giannis and Harden, so keeping someone like Tyson Chandler should get some points from his work on the boards.
Giannis should be the star player for the game as the dynamic between Harden and Westbrook needs to be seen.
This clash pits two of the best teams in the league against each other but the Bucks should come out on top after their great pre-season.
Selections, fantasy tips and predictions are based on historical data related to the team. It is advisable to conduct additional research close to the game for more accurate team news and player availability.
Several factors were taken to build this team, however, individuals should have their own ideas for player selection as this piece only provides some guidelines.
Image credits: Getty, AFP, Bongarts, (Dream 11 for team line-up)