Five games gave us a little bit of everything: a perfect shooting night from Aday Mara, Milwaukee erasing a 24-point hole, Damian Lillard wearing Portland colors again, Minnesota flashing the LaMelo–Ant blueprint even in a loss, and Chicago showing what its new rotation might look like under Tiago Splitter.
PRESEASON = INFORMATION, NOT OVERREACTIONThere is efficient, and then there is not missing a shot. Mara gave Oklahoma City 22 points on a perfect 10-for-10 from the field in 25 minutes, added six boards and two assists, and finished +17 even though the Thunder let the game get away late. The result was a loss. The individual tape was a win.
Boozer followed a solid preseason debut with an even cleaner scoring night. Sixteen points, six rebounds, two threes and no turnovers in 22 minutes against Orlando is exactly the type of efficient production Memphis wants to see while it figures out how much offense can run through him immediately.
Oklahoma City looked ready to run away with it. Milwaukee stayed in the game, owned the glass, got production from its frontcourt and let Brayden Burries take over late. A comeback from 24 down in preseason still tells us something about a young rotation: the Bucks did not stop playing when the veterans' minutes were over.
The box score matters. The context matters more. This is what actually moved the needle Wednesday night.
For Minnesota, this was one of those preseason losses where the offensive idea matters more than the final score. Anthony Edwards scored 19 in under 20 minutes and hit four of five threes. LaMelo Ball added 14 points and seven assists while also knocking down four threes. Jaden McDaniels scored 16. The spacing around Ant already looks different when LaMelo is pushing pace, moving the ball and forcing defenses to account for another high-level creator.
The problem was everything around that promise. Minnesota turned it over 20 times, gave Indiana too many clean possessions and never really solved the Pacers' shooting. Aaron Nesmith scored 19 on 7-of-9 shooting in only 16 minutes, Tyrese Haliburton had seven points and six assists in his return to Iowa State, and Indiana's offense looked organized immediately. Jonathan Kuminga's 2-point, 1-for-9 night is also something Minnesota will want to flush quickly. The Wolves showed why their ceiling is exciting. Indiana showed why execution still decides games.
Orlando has spent years being discussed first as a defensive team, so the interesting part of Sean Sweeney's first preseason game was how much cleaner the offense looked. Franz Wagner handled initiation early, Paolo Banchero spent more time operating off the ball, and the Magic created easier touches for Wendell Carter Jr. instead of making every possession feel like a half-court wrestling match.
The veteran stars did not need big scoring totals. Tristan da Silva led Orlando with 19, Jamal Cain had 15 and Carter scored 13. Memphis stayed close because Cameron Boozer gave them another strong rookie showing: 16 points, six rebounds and two assists on only seven shots. Ty Jerome scored 17, too. This is exactly what preseason should be for both teams — Orlando testing a different offensive structure, Memphis learning how quickly Boozer can become more than a developmental piece.
Phoenix jumped out early and led by as many as 15, but the same issue from its opener followed the Suns into Chicago: turnovers. Phoenix coughed it up 26 times, and that gave the Bulls too many chances to erase mistakes and play downhill. Dillon Brooks was excellent — 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including three threes — while Devin Booker had a rough shooting night at 3-for-14 and 0-for-8 from deep.
Chicago's first look under Tiago Splitter was not about one star taking over. It was about depth and balance. Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis and Leonard Miller each scored 14. Rookie Caleb Wilson had 15. Tobe Awaka put up 14 and 11 off the bench. The Bulls shot over 50 percent overall, got to the line 32 times and kept generating enough useful possessions to win the second half. For a team we expect to live on development and structure this season, that is a pretty encouraging first preseason look.
Oklahoma City built a 24-point lead and looked like it had the game under control, but the second half became a completely different evaluation. Milwaukee's young group kept attacking, the rebounding margin gave the Bucks extra possessions, and the late minutes belonged to Brayden Burries. His line — 16 points, five rebounds, two steals — does not fully capture how much he changed the closing stretch.
Before the comeback, Aday Mara had already put together the performance of the night. Ten shots. Ten makes. Twenty-two points. Six rebounds. Two assists. No turnovers. Jalen Williams added 16 and Alex Caruso scored 12 on four threes, while Milwaukee got 19 from Myles Turner and an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double from Kel'el Ware. This was preseason chaos in the best way: the established rotation looked good, the young guys got the game, and the young guys turned it into the best finish of the night.
The final score almost felt secondary because the night carried more history than a normal preseason opener. Damian Lillard played his first game in a Portland uniform in more than three years and scored 15 points in 19 minutes. Ja Morant made his Blazers debut, finishing with eight points and five assists. Deni Avdija was the sharpest Portland scorer with 23 on 9-of-13 shooting.
The combination is still brand new, and the timing looked like it in spots. Morant had four turnovers and Portland's starters did not dominate the minutes they shared. But the speed is obvious, Lillard's shooting still bends the floor, and Rob Williams giving them five blocks in 14 minutes is another reminder that this roster has real defensive tools if he can stay on the floor.
Golden State rested Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and most of the veteran core, but the depth group made Portland work. Miles Kelly scored 24 with seven rebounds and six assists while hitting six threes. Dalen Terry nearly dropped a triple-double with 23 points, eight boards, nine assists and four steals. For Portland, the result was nice. The bigger story was seeing the new era actually share a floor for the first time.
Boston–Cleveland starts the slate. Philly goes to Brooklyn, New Orleans visits Miami, Washington gets New York, Atlanta sees San Antonio, and Sacramento closes the night against the Lakers. Nightcap comes back after the final horn.