Timberwolves vs. Bucks Preseason Game Preview

The Minnesota Timberwolves wrap up the preseason tonight as they host the Milwaukee Bucks for the final preseason game at Target Center.

Minnesota suffered just its second loss of the preseason last night falling to Chicago 85-75. The Wolves were down 29-9 after the first quarter and while they did cut the lead to one with 7:43 remaining in the fourth, it was not enough as Minnesota falls to 0-1 at the Target Center in preseason play.

Forward Mike Miller, who scored just 8 points on 4-of-10 shooting, said that slow start is on the starters. "You don't ever want first quarters like that, but that's on the starting unit. We've been in and out, with a couple injuries in the starting unit, no excuses. We're gonna be a lot better than that. What I liked in the second half we came back, played with a lot of energy, got back in the game and had a chance to win."

Rashad McCants came off the bench to score 19 points, including a personal 9-0 run in the third quarter that helped the Wolves cut the Bulls lead down to four.

Al Jefferson scored seven of Minnesota's nine first-quarter points on his way to a 19 point, 11 rebound effort.

The Bulls lost guard Larry Hughes to a dislocated shoulder but not before he scored 21 points to help Chicago improve to 3-3 in the preseason.

Tonight marks the second match up of the preseason between the Wolves and the Bucks.

Minnesota opened the preseason with a 117-79 win at the Bradley Center. That 38-point victory was the largest margin of victory ever for the Wolves in the preseason.

Minnesota's focus all preseason has been on the defensive end, it started with that win over Milwaukee and has carried through as the Wolves have held 5-of-7 opponents below 90 points.

But even though the defense has been there, Coach Randy Wittman said the offense has to be there as well.

"I do like that about our guys," said Coach. "They hung in there from a defensive standpoint, we've stressed it all October, they got back after it and at least gave themselves a chance to win. But its tough, winning games when you have 18 points in two quarters. Better to get it out of the way now in the preseason than in a week from now."

The Bucks have struggled this preseason under new head coach Scott Skiles, going just 1-5 and tonight's game will be their first after splitting a pair of games with Golden State in China.

Along with a new coach, the Bucks have been trying to integrate new faces such as Luke Ridnour and Richard Jefferson.

Jefferson, who was acquired from the Nets during the offseason, said it has not been that big of an adjustment moving from New Jersey to Milwaukee.

"I played with a very good scorer in Vince Carter, I played with quality big men Kenyon Martin and Alonzo Mourning, like we have here in Andrew Bogut. Luke Ridnour is a very good passing point guard very similar to Jason Kidd. So there's really not that much of a difference, and after a while it's a small league, so you pretty much know everyone."

After tonight's matchup, Milwaukee wraps up their preseason at Chicago tomorrow night. They open up the regular season next Tuesday, Oct. 28 at Chicago.

Tonight's game tips off at 7pm and can be seen on FSN North with Tom Hanneman and Jim Petersen on the call. The game can be heard on the Wolves Radio Network and the Wolves flagship station KFAN-AM 1130 with Alan Horton and Kevin Lynch bringing all the action.