THE FINALS — Three of Monday's five preseason games are final, and the night's best minutes belonged to the rookies — with a late two-point thriller in Detroit for dessert. In Atlanta, the Grizzlies closed out a 132-123 win over the Hawks — and the story of the box score was Memphis's young core getting real run. Rookie Cameron Boozer, playing 18 minutes, filled every column: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals on 5-of-9 shooting. Fellow rookie Cedric Coward added 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in his 18 minutes, and Taylor Hendricks chipped in 7 points, 6 boards and 3 steals. Atlanta had answers from its own youth — rookie Asa Newell delivered a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in 22 minutes, and Cory Kispert came off the bench to drop a game-high 19 on 7-of-11 shooting — but Memphis had more of the answers, and earlier.
PHILADELPHIA — The night's loudest result was the 76ers' 120-97 rout of the Knicks — a 23-point preseason statement from a Philadelphia roster built to contend now. The headline from the box score: VJ Edgecombe, in just 20 minutes, put up 12 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists — the most assists of any player in the game and the clearest signal of the night about what the young guard could become in this rotation. Caleb Love poured in 15 points with 6 assists off the bench, and Jabari Walker grabbed 11 boards to go with 11 points. For a Sixers team carrying championship expectations into the season, a wire-to-wire preseason blowout of the defending champion Knicks — even in October, even with rotations stretched thin — is the kind of night that feeds the belief.
DETROIT — The night's best theater went final: the Pistons beat the Suns 109-107 in a two-point game that was everything October basketball should be. This one had real rotation players on the floor, not just camp bodies: Cade Cunningham played 16 minutes for Detroit (10 points, 2-of-4 from three), and Devin Booker played 16 for Phoenix (13 points, 4-of-7 shooting). Ron Holland II led the Pistons with 14 points off the bench in 24 minutes, Paul Reed stuffed the sheet with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, and Ausar Thompson added 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. For the Suns, Dillon Brooks (11 points) and Jalen Green (11 points) joined Booker in double figures, and Collin Gillespie was perfect off the bench — 8 points on 3-of-3 shooting with 2-of-2 from deep. A two-point preseason game with both teams' engines actually playing? That's a useful night for everybody involved.
MILWAUKEE — The fourth game, though, refused to cooperate with the narrative: the Timberwolves' 60-48 halftime cushion is gone, and the Bucks have clawed all the way back to 74-74 with 2:53 left in the third quarter, per the ESPN scoreboard. Anthony Edwards has 14 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 18 minutes — but he's 4-of-13 from the field, which is the other half of the story: Milwaukee's defense has tightened considerably since the break. L. Ball has been efficient for Minnesota (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists on 3-of-6 shooting), Rudy Gobert has 6 points and 7 boards, and Jaden McDaniels is 4-of-5 for 9 points. For the Bucks, Tyler Herro leads with 11, Myles Turner has 7 points and 5 rebounds, and Kyle Kuzma is having a night to forget — 1 point on 0-of-5 shooting in 19 minutes. This is where preseason games get genuinely interesting: deep-bench units, funky lineups, and a tie game nobody expected an hour ago.
THE ROTATION READ — Step back from the scores and the minute distributions tell the real preseason story. The starters who played — Cunningham, Booker, Edwards, Gobert, Herro, Turner — all landed in that 15-to-20-minute window, which is exactly where October rotations live: enough run to find rhythm, not enough to matter for the standings. The rookies, though, are the reason to watch these games, and Monday delivered. Edgecombe's 7 assists in 20 minutes were the most by any player in the 76ers-Knicks game — a playmaking flash from a young guard on a contender. Boozer's 11-5-4-2 line in 18 minutes was the most complete rookie performance of the night. Newell's 12-and-12 for Atlanta was the only double-double among the first-year players. Preseason box scores don't predict the season. But they do tell you who's ready for real minutes — and Monday's answer, emphatically, was the rookies.
TONIGHT — The nightcap tips at 7 p.m. PT in Sacramento: Lakers at Kings. It's the game with the most juice on the schedule — the Lakers' retooled rotation getting its first look against a Kings team that always plays October like it means something. Preseason results don't count, but preseason rotations are real: who's closing, which lineups get staggered, which young players get the last six minutes of a tight game. Watch the bench units, watch the defensive effort in the fourth, and watch whether the Lakers' new pieces look like a rotation or a collection. Earlier today we previewed tonight's full five-game slate — and the night delivered: rookies flashing, a rout in Philadelphia, and a finish in Detroit. Follow every game with Previously's NBA hub.
Reporting this story is based on
- NBA scoreboard — scores and box scores
ESPN — 2026-10-05
