MILWAUKEE — The Minnesota Timberwolves ravaged the Milwaukee Bucks from start to finish on the road at the BMO Harris Bradley Center Wednesday night 110-91.
Wolves’ starting center Nikola Pekovic spearheaded the slaughter with 15 points and 13 rebounds on the night, leading his team to a 12-1 advantage to start the game, effectively setting the tone for a preseason rout of the home team.
The Bucks starters just didn’t seem to be clicking after four minutes of play. With his team down 8-1, Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd replaced starting rookie small forward Jabari Parker and power forward Khris Middleton with shooting guard O.J. Mayo and power forward Ersan Ilyasova off the bench.
The team rallied around Mayo and Ilyasova as the two combined for 19 of the Bucks’ 23 first-quarter points, improving the deficit from 11 to five by the quarter’s end.
Kidd said this preseason was more for evaluating the players and allowing them to learn to make better decisions rather than win.
“New players, new system,” he said after the game. “But again, the intent of trying to make the pass, play for a teammate is the right thing. Now we just need to connect the dots, make sure we finish it off.”
It’s easy to believe him. After all, he did lead the Brooklyn Nets to the East semifinals last year in his first season coaching in the NBA after spending the previous 18 years as a player.
By the 3:35 mark in the first quarter, shooting guard Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only starter left in the game. Ironically, he was the player making the most mistakes, including two turnovers off of careless passing, a mainstay in the Bucks offense that night.
“We had more (turnovers) I think, than assists,” Kidd said. “So we’re not going to beat anybody when you have that. We have to take away the silly turnovers. Again, the intent of passing is good, but we have to make sure we secure the ball.”
Kidd was right about his team’s lack of ball security. The Bucks coughed up the basketball to the Wolves 23 times and only distributed 20 assists. The defense was outmatched as well.
Minnesota came into the second half in a similar fury. The Timberwolves opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run on Milwaukee and would not allow any Bucks player to score for four-and-a-half minutes.
Overall, the Bucks never once took the lead. The Wolves had the advantage in field goal, three-point, free throw percentages, rebounds, assists, points in the paint, second chance points, and fast-break points.
The night wasn’t a complete bust, however.
There were moments when Parker displayed that NBA-ready skillset college broadcasters preached about last year.
“I need to challenge myself, Parker said. “A lot of people put expectations on me, but I’m harder on myself than what other people think of me. Focus on that and focus on my team, and I’ll be straight.”
Support players helped him elevate his game when it seemed to fall flat.
No one seemed to have an effect on the game like point guard Nate Wolters, who entered the game for the first time with just more than three minutes remaining in the third quarter and would stay in for the remainder of the night.
It only took two minutes for Wolters to find space for his midrange jumper. He followed that with four more layups in five minutes, finishing second to Parker in scoring with 14 points in only 15 minutes.
Minnesota players then realizing they needed to defend him better, which helped Parker get open more.
“Nate is a great facilitator for us,” Parker said. “Nate is exceptional, and he does a lot of great things for us, especially putting me in places where I need to be. So, he’s going to help us.”
The loss marked the end of Milwaukee’s preseason, leaving the Bucks with only one thing in mind — their regular season opener against the Charlotte Hornets on the road Wednesday, Oct. 29.
“It was better that we had this game today and not in the season. It was not what we want, but we’re going to look at what we can improve on. And for the most part, we did that pretty well.”