Milwaukee comes in with a bad taste in its mouth. Minnesota came into Fiserv Forum and won 116-97 in the opener, and the Bucks never got anything going on offense. They shot 33% from the field. They cut it to 5 before a 35-21 fourth quarter blew it open. The Wolves' new LaMelo Ball–Anthony Edwards backcourt barely did anything: Edwards went 4-for-13 for 14 and Ball had 11 and 3 assists. Minnesota won anyway, by defending and by going 27-for-34 at the line.
That free-throw gap is the part that should bother Milwaukee heading into Oklahoma City. A team that shoots 33% and sends the other side to the line 34 times is losing the possession battle twice. The Thunder's whole identity is about making you pay for exactly that, with pressure on the ball, length at the rim, and transition the other way. The Bucks need cleaner looks and fewer bailout fouls, or this turns into a repeat.
Read that injury list carefully, because most of it was written for Tuesday. Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Holmgren, Hartenstein, Caruso and Wallace are listed day-to-day for the Tulsa game, and Daigneault has already said the vets play the next night. Thomas Sorber (knee) and Nikola Topic (back) are the 2 to actually watch. Both have been on the report since late August, so their absences look more like a lingering situation than a rest day. Neither is in the core rotation, but they're depth Oklahoma City hasn't been able to lean on in camp.
Coaches don't play stars long in the first week of October, so expect the Thunder starters to show up for a stretch and then hand it to the kids, the way Minnesota's starters went about 17 minutes in Milwaukee. That's still the most interesting stretch of basketball either team will have played this preseason. It's Gilgeous-Alexander's first live action of the fall, against a Bucks team trying to prove the opener was a blip.