No. 2: Minnesota Timberwolves to California – Nov. 10 to 13
In the second week of November, Minnesota hits a tough road stretch at the Warriors, Lakers, and Clippers over the span of only four days.
Minnesota went just 1-8 against those teams last year, struggling to get stops early and often. Overall, the Timberwolves allowed the second-most points in the NBA last season.
It will be important for the defense to make major strides in order to compete with Golden State and both Los Angeles teams, but this type of road trip would be challenging for every franchise. All three teams are expected to compete for a playoff berth and the Lakers enter the season as the likely favorites to win the Western Conference.
D’Angelo Russell will also get a chance to face two of his former teams in this span. He was drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and signed with the Warriors in 2019-20 before getting traded to Minnesota. The Wolves play Golden State on Wednesday, Nov. 10 before meeting the Lakers on Friday night. For his career, Russell has put up 15.5 points and 5.1 assists in eight games against the Warriors.
No. 3: Timberwolves go east to face Joel Embiid – Nov. 27
The history between Towns and Embiid has been highly publicized after the two got into a surprising scuffle and were ejected nearly two years ago in Philadelphia.
The players were suspended two games apiece after the altercation in 2019. While there weren’t significant fireworks in 2020, it will be interesting to see what this rivalry has in store for 2021.
Aside from that, they’re extremely highly skilled and versatile big men that push each other to be better. Towns has averaged 21.0 points and 10.9 rebounds against Embiid but has lost six straight meetings. In their only matchup last season, Towns showed out with 39 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but it came in another loss.
The first of two games between the Timberwolves and 76ers will take place on the road on Saturday, Nov. 27 before a rematch in late February. Minnesota also has a road game against the Nets less than a week after traveling to Philadelphia in November, so we’ll see how the T-Wolves stack up against the top of the Eastern Conference.