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If an NBA preseason game is played in Iowa, but there’s no televised feed (and only spotty connections to the radio broadcast), did it actually happen? According to the NBA, it did, as the Milwaukee Bucks waxed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 125-107.
If you were following the game on Twitter, well, this is a taste of the scene you witnessed:
Is anyone actually at this game?? If so send pictures over as proof!
— Brew Hoop (@brewhoop) October 8, 2018
Wow. KAT just went for a slam and Giannis met him at the summit. Ended with the ball flying off the back heel of the iron and the whole arena letting out an audible, OHHHHHHHHHH!
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) October 8, 2018
Jim Paschke is faux-beefing with the team's new sideline reporter on a Sunday night in Ames, Iowa.
— Riley Feldmann (@RileyFeldmann) October 8, 2018
God bless the NBA. https://t.co/tsqCdN80OB
We did at least manage one Giannis Antetokounmpo highlight, courtesy of the Bucks’ official Twitter feed:
THE GREEK FREAK!! pic.twitter.com/vlj4HPaNEi
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) October 8, 2018
In all seriousness, folks, this was still a preseason basketball game. Giannis ended his night with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Khris Middleton (13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists) and Malcolm Brogdon (12 points, 2 assists) were notable contributors from the starting lineup, and Tony Snell (9 points) returned to life from the bench early on. John Henson apparently (9 points, 4 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks) did normal things...like hitting a three-pointer?! Donte DiVincenzo (12 points on 12 shots) hit his first NBA regulation three, and Christian Wood (14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) emerged from the bottom of the pack to make his mark.
For the Wolves, Karl-Anthony Towns was nigh unstoppable, with 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 1 block. Fellow first overall pick Andrew Wiggins (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers) was...not that. Minnesota shot well from deep but (as Bucks fans are delighted to have moved on from) their frequency was unimpressive. Equally unimpressive were the contributions from the rest of Minny’s rotation; no one else matched the members of the Bucks’ supporting cast’s outputs, and that quickly became the theme of the game. It took until garbage time for Gorgui Dieng (13 points), C.J. Williams (12 points), and Tyus Jones (10 points) to break double figures.
Stat That Stood Out
57 fouls called (combined). Fifty-seven! That’s a lot of fouls! That’s more fouls than you might see in the Las Vegas Summer League! John Henson fouled out in 15 minutes! I would imagine that the fine people in Ames, Iowa wouldn’t have expected to see that many stoppages in the action...but given the way that the video evidence simply doesn’t exist, I suppose there’s no way for us to share in their experience. Alas!