Five Preseason Games, Five Things We Learned

At 3-2, the preseason has shown a lot: Ant scoring well, Melo running the offense and a bench that won a game without the stars.

Five games in, the Wolves are 3-2 this preseason. They beat Milwaukee, Miami and New York and lost to Indiana and Detroit. Preseason results don't count, but the box scores still tell us a lot.

1. Ant is ready

Anthony Edwards led the Wolves in scoring in four of the five games: 14 at Milwaukee, 19 at Indiana, 26 at New York and 20 against Detroit. The 26-point night at Madison Square Garden came on 8-of-16 shooting.

2. Melo is a table-setter first

LaMelo Ball had 7 assists at Indiana and 7 more at New York. He has not forced shots. In the games we have numbers for, he has been looking for teammates first.

3. McDaniels can take on more scoring

Jaden McDaniels scored 16 at Indiana and 22 at New York, shooting 8-of-12 at the Garden. If that holds up, defenses can't just load up on the two stars.

4. The bench won a game by itself

The 125-124 win at Miami came from the second unit. Bones Hyland scored 23 on 6-of-9 shooting, Zyon Pullin scored 22 on 7-of-9 and Terrence Shannon Jr. added 19. That kind of depth matters in March.

5. Beringer is making his case

Joan Beringer grabbed 7 rebounds in three of the five games. He had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting at Milwaukee and 10 on 5-of-6 at Miami.

The two stars have looked good, and the guys around them have been even better than expected.