LaMelo Torches MIL Early, MIN Holds On 112-100
LaMelo Ball dropped 34 points to lead Minnesota past Milwaukee 112-100, and the game was effectively over before halftime. Ayo Dosunmu added 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists in a performance that looks like the most complete two-way effort of the night.
Minnesota came out swinging and never really let Milwaukee breathe. After Jaime Jaquez Jr. opened the scoring with a running layup, LaMelo Ball took over — hitting a 26-foot running jumper, then a 32-foot three-pointer, then a 25-foot three off an Ayo Dosunmu feed, pushing the lead to 15-4 before the first quarter was eight minutes old. Milwaukee tried to claw back through Jaquez, Brayden Burries, and a Myles Turner three-pointer that briefly trimmed the gap to 15-13, but Minnesota kept answering. By the time Bones Hyland buried a 25-footer late in the first, the Timberwolves led 29-18 heading into the second.
The second quarter looked like Milwaukee's best chance to make it a game. AJ Green hit back-to-back threes off Ryan Rollins assists to cut the deficit to five, and the Bucks chipped away until Myles Turner's 5-foot bucket made it 41-42 with just over three minutes left in the half. That's when Minnesota slammed the door. Ball converted a and-one, Dosunmu added a running layup, and the Timberwolves went into the break up 48-44 — a lead that, given how the first quarter unfolded, felt like a comfortable cushion. Tyler Herro's buzzer-beating three made it a four-point game at the half, but it appears that was as close as Milwaukee would get.
The biggest single moment came in the fourth quarter, when a Kasparas Jakucionis flagrant free throw swung the home win probability from 88% to 82% — a seven-point swing that briefly tightened the tension but ultimately changed nothing. Minnesota finished 112-100. For Milwaukee, the story of the night was effort without execution: Myles Turner posted 5 blocks and 13 points, Jaquez finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Herro led the Bucks with 21 points — but none of it was enough against a Minnesota team that controlled the game's tempo from the opening tip. Seven players sat out between the two rosters as coach's decisions, so reading too much into the final margin feels premature. What isn't premature: LaMelo Ball at 34 points looks like exactly the kind of performance that makes this Minnesota team genuinely difficult to game-plan against.