The Minnesota Timberwolves would love to jump out with a winning streak early in the 2022-23 NBA season. In terms of how well the team will play in the early going? I think it’s a safe bet to expect this new roster to be a bit shaky in terms of communication, roster rotations, and perhaps even overall play. So of the seven games that this team will play in the month of October 2022, how many games are you willing to project in the win column?
I believe this team could win all seven games, and here’s why. Of course, the first step is to look over the month of October 2022 on the Timberwolves’ schedule.
- Date      Location   Opponent       ESPN Power Rankings (link)
- Oct 19     Home        OKC Thunder     28
- Oct 21     Home        Utah Jazz            14
- Oct 23     Away         OKC Thunder     28
- Oct 24     Home        SA Spurs             21
- Oct 26     Home        SA Spurs             21
- Oct 28     Home        LA Lakers           17
- Oct 30     Away         SA Spurs             21
The second step is to use a reference point to compare teams. For now, let’s agree to use the ESPN Power Rankings (see link above). For now, the Minnesota Timberwolves are ranked as the 12th best NBA team for the 2022-23 NBA season.
So what does this tell us about the Minnesota Timberwolves chances of winning in the early part of the season? Well, the team will play all but two games in the friendly confines of their home court at the Target Center. And of those two away games, the Timberwolves schedule has them traveling to face the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, their two easiest opponents of the month.
The Timberwolves’ toughest contest will likely be the game schedule on October 21, 2022, when the team welcomes back five former players who were traded away to the Utah Jazz to acquire former Jazz center Rudy Gobert. You can bet that Patrick Beverley and company would like nothing better than to steal a win from the Timberwolves in that second game.
But the odds of a successful October appear to be pretty good for the Timberwolves. Arguably, all opponents with the exception of the Los Angeles Lakers are actively rebuilding their roster this year. In terms of roster construction, those teams have an even greater challenge to generate team chemistry than the Timberwolves.
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