Timberwolves get massive scheduling advantage in 2023-24
By Will Eudy
The full schedule for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2023-24 season was released on Thursday, and there are plenty of reasons for fans to be excited. The team will be beginning the year by heading to Abu Dhabi to play a pair of unique preseason games.
After that, it will be back to business as usual when the Wolves travel to Toronto for the season opener on October 25. A new caveat to the coming season will be the In-Season Tournament, where Minnesota will face off with the Kings, Warriors, Thunder and Spurs in group play.
The regular season will officially end on April 14. But throughout the year, the Timberwolves will have a significant factor working in their favor. Over the course of the 82-game regular season, Minnesota will have a much greater rest advantage than their opponents on average.
The Timberwolves have been given a gift with their schedule in terms of rest advantages
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) August 17, 2023
Equal rest:
• 44 games
• Avg. proj. opp. win %: 52.6%
Rest advantage:
• 23 games
• Avg. proj. opp. win %: 49.1%
Rest disadvantage:
• 13 games
• Avg. proj. opp. win %*: 51.0%
The Timberwolves have been gifted a huge rest advantage this season.
Back-to-backs and three-games-in-four-nights scenarios have historically always presented a challenge to NBA teams. Going on the road or returning home with little sleep and a sore body can take a toll on teams in one of the most athletic leagues in the world.
But in the 2023-24 season, the Timberwolves will have a rest advantage over their opponents in 23 games, compared to just 13 games where their foes will have more rest than them coming in. There are 44 games on the schedule where Minnesota will have equal number of days rest as their competition.
This should prove to be a huge difference-maker by season’s end. Even in games where the Wolves would normally be outmatched talent-wise, they will have an opportunity to take advantage of when they come in as the more rested team.
In the 23 games where they will have a rest advantage, the projected winning percentage of Minnesota’s opponents is just 49.1%. This should give them an excellent chance of reversing last year’s dreadful trend of playing down to bad competition, and should lead to a higher win total overall.
