Minnesota Timberwolves schedule: Breaking down the crucial stretches

Minnesota Timberwolves schedule: The Final Test stretch

By the time March rolls around, there’s growing fatigue, especially for struggling franchises. Teams like the Timberwolves, who will be fighting for their playoff lives under the best of circumstances, can’t afford to give into that malaise.

This is a tough group of games. The Lakers and Bucks will be among the league’s contenders, as will the Suns if they can regain their magic from last season. The Mavericks figure to be at least a solid playoff team as long as Luka Doncic is there, and the Celtics should be better with a new coach and improved roster fit.

This is the kind of stretch where Timberwolves teams of previous years would go 0-6 or 1-5. It will probably play out that way again if they have nothing to play for. But if the internal development plan goes well, this will be a final trial for the Wolves to pass in order to secure a postseason spot.

After this, the Wolves play non-playoff teams in five of their final six regular-season contests. This mid-to-late April portion of the schedule probably won’t be where the Timberwolves earn their way into the playoffs — the opponents are too good for that — but it could absolutely be when things go sideways.

The 10,000-foot view tells us that the Wolves must get off to a decent start, meaning going at least 5-3 in their first eight games, which are all winnable, largely at home, and with no back-to-back sets.

The next few weeks will be rough, but if the Wolves can emerge after the first of the new year with a record around .500, they could be in decent shape to push for a play-in berth come spring.