In their first game of the new era, the Milwaukee Bucks showed glimpses of their potential in front of Fiserv Forum fans, but ultimately came up short, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-97 in their preseason opener. Despite fouling out in just 14 minutes, Ryan Rollins led the Bucks with 15 points, while Kel’el Ware chipped in with a double-double, and both Bucks rookies showed promise. The Timberwolves were led by sophomore Joan Beringer, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
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Box Score
Game Recap
After much anticipation, Taylor Jenkins rolled out his first set of Bucks starters—Myles Turner, Kyle Kuzma, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Tyler Herro, and Ryan Rollins—opting for veteran experience. Rudy Gobert won the tip but action lasted just two seconds before a technical delay and then Wolves newcomer Jonathan Kuminga opened the scoring on a slashing layup. A nice feed from Turner gave Rollins his first two and he doubled that on the Bucks’ next possession. Trailing 7-4, Rollins was sent to the locker room after a nasty elbow to the eye and the Bucks had their first substitution—Kevin Porter Jr. The Bucks generated plenty of good looks, but were largely unable to convert outside of Herro’s back-to-back threes with just over five minutes to go in the quarter. The good news? They hit the offensive glass, especially once Kel’el Ware and Jericho Sims checked in. More Bucks bricks—they shot just 6/28 for the quarter—and another technical delay brought the period to a close, Milwaukee trailing 31-20.
Ware looked to change that to start the second, nailing his second above-the-break three of the night, and despite the Bucks struggling to defend without fouling, a Turner three soon had them within three, 35-32. But Anthony Edwards sparked a 12-0 run, ending in alley-oop finishes from Kuminga and Gobert, which forced Jenkins to call a timeout. When action returned, Sims flushed his own—from Gary Trent Jr. no less (even if it might’ve been a shot)—but, moments later, the Bucks inexplicably let Jaden McDaniels sneak behind the defence for the easiest of twos after Kyle Kuzma bricked a free throw. And when LaMelo Ball swished a corner trey, things looked bleak. Jenkins noticed too, subbing in Brayden Burries for his first action. A three of his own and two assists for Trent threes brought life back into Fiserv, but Milwaukee still entered halftime with plenty of work to do, down 60-48.
Minnesota head coach Chris Finch pulled his starters to begin the second half and Rollins quickly found his groove with two triples and a sneaky layup, cutting the lead to seven. Dunks from Terrance Shannon Jr. and Joan Beringer momentarily paused the Bucks’ momentum, and by the time Jaquez was called for an eight-second violation I thought I’d developed tinnitus—there were that many whistles. With 4:42 left on the clock, Nate Ament checked in for his first minutes and Kevin Porter Jr. came to life with an offhand layup bookended by trips to the free throw line. But it was Ament who brought the crowd to its highest decibel reading, first with a corner three that tied things up at 74, then with an offensive rebound putback plus the harm. An ill-advised Ware three-point attempt led to an Enrique Freeman leak-out jam and, by the time the siren blared, the Wolves had regained their lead, 81-77.
Ware showed off his length to begin the fourth, swatting a shot, but three consecutive paint buckets by the Wolves extended the lead to 10 before two more forced Jenkins into a timeout. He came out of it with an interesting lineup featuring Caris LeVert as the most trustworthy ballhandler. By this point, the game well and truly felt like garbage time. Still, Burries showed promise, looking comfortable getting his own shot and setting up others, and Ware finished strong, recording a double-double as the Bucks lost 116-97.
Stat That Stood Out
0, as in minutes. That’s exactly how many Ousmane Dieng, Kasparas Jakučionis, and Bogoljub Markovic combined to play. It’ll be interesting to see how Jenkins manages minutes for the rest of the preseason.
