Dunking With Wolves
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Will the Minnesota Timberwolves win their season opener against the Spurs?

By Cooper Langby

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 21: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against LaMarcus Aldridge #12 of the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter of the game on March 21, 2017 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Spurs defeated the Timberwolves 100-93. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 21: Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against LaMarcus Aldridge #12 of the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter of the game on March 21, 2017 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Spurs defeated the Timberwolves 100-93. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Timberwolves have a tough challenge awaiting them to start the season: a road game in San Antonio against the perennially contending Spurs.

Although the Timberwolves made a series of significant roster moves this offseason, the San Antonio Spurs are competitive year after year. In case you’d forgotten, their four championships since 2003 makes that clear, as well as their ten division titles in the same period. Playing in their home opener will be no easy task.

To put that in perspective, the Timberwolves have zero championships to their name and one division title in their entire history, coming in 2004. That was also the year that the Timberwolves last saw playoff basketball.

Playoff hopes are high for them this season and even former Wolf Ricky Rubio believes the Wolves could be seeing some postseason action. A good start to the season is integral to these hopes.

The Spurs will be ready for the challenge out of the gates. Last season, San Antonio matched up against Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors to open the year and won by 29 points against the team that went on the win the NBA Championship. The Timberwolves took a four-point loss in Memphis to open the year — the same team that the Spurs would later eliminate in the first round of the playoffs.

The Timberwolves started the season slow last year, with an 11-22 record at the end of the calendar year. Tom Thibodeau will certainly place importance on finishing the first portion of the year with a better record than last to ensure the Wolves are off on the right foot. And that starts with Game One against the Spurs.

San Antonio has nothing to lose, of course. They’re going to be a playoff team and most likely finish in a higher seed than the Timberwolves could hope for. Kawhi Leonard should be back from a thigh injury and may be looking to prove ZaZa Pachulia didn’t have a lasting effect.

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Chances are, a win isn’t going to come easy for the Timberwolves. They’ve had their opportunity to mesh during the preseason, introducing newcomers like Jimmy Butler and Jeff Teague to Minnesota basketball and finishing with a 2-1 record. The Spurs, who didn’t take a trip to China, will have a slightly longer, five-game preseason. Visiting Sacramento, the Spurs dropped their first game by six points, before getting back at the Kings with a 20-point win at home.

The preseason showed some promising signs where the Wolves needed them most: the bench. In the preseason opener against the Lakers, Shabazz Muhammad had 22 points in 29 minutes off the bench, shooting 58.3 percent from the floor. Also shooting 58.3 percent, Gorgui Dieng managed 14 points and 12 rebounds in 27 minutes in his new bench role.

The team’s newly-arrived starters also performed well. Taj Gibson managed 18 points and nine rebounds on 50 percent shooting. Jimmy Butler shot the same percentage on his way to 10 points, and Jeff Teague tallied 11 points and nine assists.

The young guns played well against the Warriors in the second preseason game, which the Wolves also won. Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and 8 rebounds and Andrew Wiggins contributed 14 points.

Also impressive in this game, Tyus Jones provided hope that he can perform as the leader of the second unit, adding 10 points and six assists off the bench at the position that arguably has the least depth for the Wolves.

The Timberwolves look to be working well together thus far, although they may still take some time to find their rhythm and get into a winning groove. However, a preseason win against the reigning champion Warriors will certainly be a confidence boost when facing up against a competitive team such as the Spurs.

All in all, I’ve been impressed by the Timberwolves’ performance in the preseason, yet I don’t think it’s enough to lift them above the Spurs in the season opener. For a team with so many new players, some time to gel will most likely be needed before a regular season win against a top-tier team will come.

I would love to see a close-fought battle that goes down to the wire — with the Wolves winning of course — but I think they’ll drop this one to the Spurs.

Next: Best and Worst-Case Scenarios for Melo Trimble

The Timberwolves need to ensure they regather well and win the first home game of the season when they face Ricky Rubio and the Utah Jazz in Minneapolis, and the Wolves should then be able to assert themselves as a winning team.

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