The Minnesota Timberwolves haven’t exactly become synonymous with playing on Christmas Day. As a matter of fact, they never played on the holiday until 2016. Since then, they have played on December 25 three more times, including last year.
While the NBA schedule hasn’t been released yet, fresh off another Western Conference finals appearance, one would have to believe that Minnesota will once again be on this year’s Christmas Day lineup for the NBA. That lineup is usually announced sometime in the second week of August. Here are three potential Christmas Day opponents for the Wolves.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Last year, the Timberwolves were pitted against the Mavericks on Christmas. That was a rematch of the previous season’s Western Conference finals. A matchup with the Thunder this year would be likewise.
All eyes would be on two of the top scorers in the game in Anthony Edwards and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Minnesota would be looking for revenge after they were ousted by OKC in five games in the 2025 Western Conference Finals.
Denver Nuggets
This would be a meeting between two Northwest Division rivals that finished one game apart in last season’s standings. They didn’t meet in the playoffs last season, but the squads did so in the previous two years. Denver won in five games in 2023, but Minnesota exacted revenge by winning a hard-fought seven-game series in 2024.
The Timberwolves actually swept the four-game regular season series in 2024-25. That was despite Nikola Jokic averaging 35.3 points over Denver’s four defeats.
New York Knicks
It hasn’t even been a full year yet since the Timberwolves dealt Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks in a trade that netted Minnesota both Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo (as well as the first-round pick that was used on Joan Beringer last month). It ended the nine-year tenure of Towns with the Wolves, a team that selected him first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
In all likelihood, this game would be at Madison Square Garden, so it wouldn’t be Towns’ second appearance back at the Target Center with NY. It would be Randle’s second game back at MSG, and DiVincenzo’s first as he was out for the Wolves' 116-99 win there on January 17.
Both current Minnesota players would receive a warm reaction from the Garden faithful. In his five seasons with the Knicks, Randle made three All-Star and two All-NBA teams, as well as being named the 2020-21 Most Improved Player.
While DiVincenzo played just one year for New York, he quickly became a fan favorite. He hit an iconic three-pointer in their first-round series against the 76ers in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, and he also set a new single-season franchise record in that one year with 283 made three-pointers.