With the start of the regular season around the corner, preseason games become more and more important. Although preseason ball may have taken a second or third seat behind the NFL or the NLCS on Sunday, it’s important not to underestimate the importance of the preseason. With a look at Sunday’s action, here’s Monday’s Daily Dish.

HAWKS 105, MAGIC 98

 The Good

No Howard, no Schroder, no Korver? No problem. The Atlanta Hawks played a very strong game on Sunday and were led by forward Paul Millsap in their 105-98 victory over the Magic. Despite the lack of a supporting cast Millsap was able to score a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting (including 2-of-3 from 3-point land). Millsap added nine rebounds, seven assists in 19 minutes of action. The fact that he turned the ball over only once is also a great sign for him. Millsap will be a solid pick in the late first round of fantasy drafts.

Tim Hardaway Jr. also had a productive night for the Hawks in 30 minutes of action. Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting while adding a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. He rounded out his evening by grabbing three rebounds, four assists and one block. Hardaway Jr. will be a key member off the Hawks bench, but will not be more than a late round flier in most fantasy drafts.

For the Magic, Serge Ibaka once again provided a very productive line. Despite the loss to the Hawks Ibaka played a game-high 36 minutes and added 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He shot 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and added six rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Ibaka started off slow this preseason but has really picked it up in the last couple of games. He has considerable upside as a late second round/early third round pick. Don’t forget about him on draft day.

Bismack Biyombo also posted a noteworthy line on Sunday. While he only scored seven points (2-of-7 shooting, 3-of-10 from the line) he did gather a game-high 19 rebounds to go with two assists, one steal and five blocks. Yes the shooting wasn’t great, but Biyombo has high upside as a block and rebounding specialist. If Ibaka and Biyombo both start, Orlando could be a very exciting team to watch.

Lastly, guard Evan Fournier chipped in 22 points in Sunday’s 105-98 loss to the Hawks. Fournier added five rebounds, four assists and three treys in a strong showing for the Magic. Fournier should go in the late middle rounds of fantasy drafts this year.

The Bad

Magic forward Aaron Gordon disappointed on Sunday evening with a line of four points on 2-of-10 shooting. Gordon added four rebounds and one assist to round out his night. Gordon has tremendous athletic ability and will be a popular breakout candidate this season. Lines like this however will not help his cause.

The Takeaway

The Magic have the pieces to really open some eyes this season. With Ibaka and Biyombo in the frontcourt it could make paint scoring for opposite teams very challenging. Despite all the optimism here the Hawks were still able to defeat the Magic without four of their projected starters on Sunday. Weird stuff tends to happen in the preseason.

THUNDER 112, WOLVES 94

The Good

What would a Thunder blurb be without mentioning the great Russell Westbrook? Westbrook led the Thunder with 26 points and 10 assists in Sunday’s 112-94 victory over the Wolves. Westbrook shot 10-of-21 while adding three rebounds and one steal. Even more impressive was the fact that he did not commit a single turnover. Russ has top 3 potential this year and could very well be the first overall selection in many fantasy drafts this year. He will be exciting to own.

The legend of Steven Adams continues to grow as well after an impressive playoff run last year. Adams doubled-doubled in 23 minutes of action on Sunday night. Adams scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting while adding 11 rebounds and four blocks. This may finally be the season where Steven Adams puts it all together. He is a high upside selection this year and should make for a fine pick in the middle rounds of drafts.

The Wolves were led by reserve guard John Lucas who scored a team-high 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Lucas logged a team-high 30 minutes of action in this one, but will have no fantasy value when the regular season starts.

The Bad

Two of the more exciting teams in the Western Conference squared off on Sunday night, but only one team showed up. The Wolves decided to rest KAT, Wiggins, Rubio, Lavine and Dieng. This made for a very underwhelming preseason matchup.

With all of the starters for the Wolves out it was Kris Dunn’s opportunity to shine. Unfortunately Dunn did not step up in this one and finished Sunday’s loss with six points, six assists and two rebounds while committing a team-high five personal fouls. Dunn has some exciting upside but will not have much fantasy value with Ricky Rubio fully entrenched as the starting point guard for the Wolves.

The Takeaway

When the teams meet for real in the regular season I imagine that this game will be a lot closer and exciting. Westbrook showed once again that he will be one of the more exciting players to own this season. He has the potential to go first overall in drafts, so plan accordingly.