Answering 3 burning questions about the just-released Timberwolves schedule

Q3: How likely is it that the Timberwolves get out to a fast start?

If we learned anything about the Minnesota Timberwolves from the 2022-23 NBA season, it’s the fact that the team’s month of October pretty much sets the pace for the entire season. So how likely is it that the Timberwolves will get out to a fast start?

Well, we know that a number of factors combined to slow down the Minnesota Timberwolves early schedule success last season. For starters, the team’s starting five: Center Rudy Gobert, power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, small forward Jaden McDaniels, shooting guard Anthony Edwards, and point guard D’Angelo Russell, were making their debut playing on the same basketball court in the last preseason game of the season. But worse than that, Gobert was trying to familiarize himself with playing for a new team, Towns was trying to acclimate himself to playing in a new position, and McDaniels was trying to ramp up to playing as the Timberwolves starter.

• Date         Opponent              Time
• Oct 25      @ Toronto             6:15 pm CT
• Oct 28      Miami                     7:00 pm CT
• Oct 30      @ Atlanta              6:30 pm CT
• Nov 1        Denver                   7:00 pm CT
• Nov 4        Utah                       7:00 pm CT
• Nov 6        Boston                   7:00 pm CT
• Nov 8        New Orleans        7:00 pm CT
• Nov 10     @ San Antonio     7:00 pm CT        In-Season Tournament
• Nov 12     @ Golden State    7:30 pm CT
• Nov  14    @ Golden State    9:00 pm CT       In-Season Tournament

That’s a pretty tough way to open the season.

Q2: What appears to be the toughest stretch in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ schedule this season?

The next question that is burning on everyone’s mind is when do the Timberwolves face the toughest segment in their schedule this season? That is the toughest question to answer because it not only depends upon the Timberwolves’ schedule but on the opponents that the Timberwolves will face over that time frame.

We know that the roughest part of the Timberwolves schedule during the 2022-23 season was December 2022. The Timberwolves began the month with a record of 11-11. But by the time the month ended, the Timberwolves were limping along with a record of 16-21.  The month had seven home games and nine road games. Of the seven home games, the Timberwolves were 3-3. But of the nine road games, the Timberwolves were 2-7. That’s a brutal stretch.

The season, the Minnesota Timberwolves schedule holds two such perilous segments. You can see above that the Timberwolves have a huge road trip of five games that ends against the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans.  Since two of the five games are In-Season Tournament games, they will prove to be very difficult for the Timberwolves.

But don’t look for any relief in the schedule for December 2023. The Timberwolves open with a three-game road trip, one home game, two road games, one home game, and then two more road games before closing out the month with a two-game home stand. That adds up to four home games and seven games on the road. Yikes!