Pre-Season Game 5: Milwaukee Bucks 106, Minnesota Timberwolves 88 Notes & Reactions

Oct 20, 2015; Madison, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15) grabs a rebound against Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the second quarter at Kohl Center. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Good

Carter-Williams was definitely the best part of watching the Bucks dismantle the Timberwolves on Tuesday night. Although he was far from the only player to turn in a quality performance, MCW faced more scrutiny than any other Buck coming into this game.

There was a vocal minority of fans even calling for Carter-Williams to lose his starting job based on his preseason struggles. He silenced those critics, at least momentarily, with his great play against Minnesota.

Carter-Williams only needed nine shots to set his new preseason scoring high, which is two less shots than he took when the Bucks played Cleveland. In that game, MCW scored two points. He managed to score 16 points while taking just nine shots against Minnesota. Isn’t efficiency lovely?

Khris Middleton also looked more like his usual sharpshooting self, scoring 17 points on 70 percent shooting. He also added six rebounds and two assists in an all-around good night.

Milwaukee’s centers had themselves another great game, as Greg Monroe and John Henson combined for 26 points, 16 rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 40 combined minutes. They shot 65 percent from the field as well, meaning their points came efficiently.

The Bucks’ team defense stood out as well, holding the Timberwolves to just 88 points on 33 percent shooting. Milwaukee also stifled anything beyond the arc, as Minnesota shot under 20 percent from three-point territory.

As far as individual defense goes, Giannis Antetokounmpo showed that it’s not wise to attempt to outrun him on a fast break. Even if a player manages to get to the rim ahead of the Greek Freak, that won’t necessarily stop Giannis from adding a loud blocked shot to his stat sheet.

There was a lot of good things in this game, but as usual not everything was roses for Milwaukee. Like most NBA contests, the team did some bad things in addition to the fun stuff.

Next: The Not So Fun Stuff