MILWAUKEE -- Dwight Howard was disappointed by the Rockets inconsistent effort, even if it was good enough to beat the Bucks. Howard scored 27 points, including three crucial free throws in the closing seconds, and James Harden scored 10 of his 22 points in the decisive third quarter to help Houston hold off a short-handed but scrappy Milwaukee team for its fifth straight win, 101-95 Saturday night. "We didnt attack like we needed to the whole game," Howard said. "There were spurts when we attacked the basket, but there were times when settled for the 3. We have to always be in attack mode." The Rockets let the Bucks get close once in the third and then again down the stretch. "They dug into the lead a little bit," Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. "Im just glad we got that win. That wasnt one of our best games. We had a lot of possessions offensively where we didnt move the ball." Jeremy Lin added 18 as the Rockets tied their longest winning streak of the season, a mark set in late November. "Were too up and down right now," Lin said. "We go up 12 and then we are only up six. It would be nice for us to build leads and really dominate from start to finish." Howard grabbed 13 rebounds for his 33rd double-double of the season, the third highest in the NBA this season. Nate Wolters, who scored a career-high 19, sparked the Bucks with seven points during a 16-7 run to open the second half and that pulled them to 63-61. "Defensively, they kind of got what they wanted there for a while," McHale said of the Bucks effort. "But we had some good runs inside the game that got us some separation." The Rockets quickly answered with baskets by Patrick Beverley and Terence Jones, and then Harden added seven points to prevent Milwaukee from getting any closer using an 18-8 run to end the third and take an 81-69 lead into the fourth. Brandon Knight scored 23 points and Khris Middleton 20, including three free throws after being fouled behind the arc with 46.6 seconds remaining as Milwaukee came back to trail 98-95. Howard made three of four free throws for Houstons final points and seal the win. "I thought for the most part, we hung in there," Bucks head coach Larry Drew said. "The first half we really were just trying to make it work after we lost Larry Sanders." The Bucks were already down to four reserves before an inadvertent elbow from Harden knocked Sanders out of the game with 7:37 left in the first quarter. The two were fighting for a rebound under the Bucks basket. Sanders fell to the floor for a few moments before walking off. He did not return due to blurred vision. After the game, Bucks coach Larry Drew didnt have any additional news on Sanders. John Henson thought that Sanders got hit in the eye and probably would just have a black eye. With the loss of Sanders, the Rockets had an easier time in the low post and outscored the Bucks 58 to 48 in the paint. Luke Ridnour (back), Ekpe Udoh (ankle), Ersan Ilyasova (back), O.J. Mayo (illness/conditioning) and Caron Butler (ankle) missed the game for Milwaukee. Lin came off the bench to score 11 points in the first half as Houston shot 53.5 per cent and took a 56-45 lead at the half. Harden added 11 points and then helped Howard get his 11th just before the half ended on a slick alley-oop. Howard had just converted a three-point play when Harden lofted a pass that the Rockets centre dunked for a 15-point lead. NOTES: Houston improved to 15-3 against the Eastern Conference, including five straight against the East. ... Rockets C Omer Asik returned after missing the last 31 games with a right thigh/knee injury, but F Greg Smith sore right knee kept him back in Houston. Hes played in only 11 games so far this season. ... Howard is 17 of 18 in career games against the Bucks. ... 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Luis Alexander Basabe Jersey . THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all.Novak Djokovic meets Milos Raonic in the Paribas Open final aiming for a record-breaking fifth Indian Wells title and record-equalling 27th Masters crown. The world No 1 looked to be ominously moving through the gears in his semi-final victory over Rafa Nadal and a win on Sky Sports on Sunday night will draw him level with the Spaniards tally of 27 Masters series titles. Djokovic too good for Rafa Report as one of tennis greatest rivalries resumes It will also take Djokovic clear of Roger Federer with a fifth Indian Wells title - the Serb currently locked on four with the Swiss great. The opposition will come from Canadas Raonic who has enjoyed a fine week to put injury worries behind him and build on a superb showing in Australia where he lost out to Andy Murray in an epic five-set semi-final - he is chasing a maiden Masters crown and the biggest title of his career.ExperienceHaving won his first Indian Wells title in 2008, Djokovic is bidding for a fifth title in the desert and a third in succession having beaten Federer in each of the last two years.A fifth Australian Open title in January gave him an 11th career Grand Slam title and Djokovic will be playing his 39th Masters final - winning 26 to give him an astonishing win rate of 68 per cent.In contrast, Raonic is into the Indian Wells final for the first time but made the semi-finals last year where he was beaten in straight sets by Federer. Djokovic (right) came out on top when the pair met in the Paris Masters final in 2014 The Canadian, who has eight career titles under his belt, does have the experience of two previous Masters finals to draw on as he faces the formidable world No 1.However, Raonic has lost both of his 1000 Series finals, the last coming in 2014 where he was beaten in Paris by Djokovic (6-2 6-3) - his only other final at this level coming in Montreal in 2013 where he went down in straight sets to Nadal. Head-to-headFigures of 5-0 and 13-1 are the scorelines in Djokovics favour that Raonic will have to overturn in the Californian sunshine if he is to claim the title.Djokovic has won all five meetings between the pair - although they have not met since the Australian Open quarter-final in 2015, so the world No 1 has not met the Canadian since Raonic has found the consistency that was lacking in the early part of his career.All five meetings have been high-profile affairs, the first was a Davis Cup semi-final, two have been in Grand Slam quarter-finals and two in Masters events (one final, one semi-final) - but on all occasions the Serb has had the edge.Indeed Raonic has not taken a set off Djokovic since 2014 when he won the opener of their Rome Masters semi-final - since then it has been ten successive sets for Djokovic. Raonic sees of dogged Goffin Report as Milos Raonic reaches third Masters final How they got there Road to the Final Novak Djokovic Milos Raonic Bjorn Fratangelo (2-6 6-1 6-2) R2 Inigo Cervantes (6-1 6-3) Philiipp Kohlschreiber (7-5 7-5) R3 Bernard Tomic (6-2 3-0 RET) Feliciano Lopez (6-3 6-3) Last 16 Tomas Berdych (6-4 7-6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7-6 7-6) Q-Final Gael Monfils (7-5 6-3) Rafa Nadal (7-6 6-2) S-Final David Goffin (6-3 3-6 6-3) Djokovic has taken his time to get going in California and it seems an age ago that he lost the opening set to American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo.ddddddddddddBut after battling back to win the match for the loss of just three more games, Djokovic has not dropped a set since. Highlights of the semi-final clash at Indian Wells between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Hes been far from his best at times but, as Sky Sports expert Peter Fleming observed in the semi-final win over Nadal, he has found a way to win - the physicality and determination enough to pull him through tight contests against Philip Kohlschreiber and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.Arguably his toughest test came against Nadal but after edging a tight opening set, Djokovic played his best tennis of the week to wrap up the victory and set up the date with Raonic. Raonic (left) will be chasing a first Masters title and first career win over Djokovic (right) The Canadian went into the semi-finals as the only player who had not dropped a set but his battle with David Goffin proved to be his toughest battle to date.Bernard Tomic, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils were all seen off in surprisingly comfortable fashion as Raonic made serene progress to the last four where his surprise opponent was Goffin - Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka falling early in the week.The 25-year-old came through 6-3 3-6 6-3 against Goffin showing all the determination he will need if he is to have to inflict a first Indian Wells final defeat on the formidable world No 1.You can watch all the action from Indian Wells live on Sky Sports 2 from 8pm or with a NOW TV day pass for £6.99. Also See: Djokovic too good for Nadal Raonic sees off Goffin Get a NOW TV pass Video ' ' '