Christmas Day schedule comes with a brutal message Wolves fans should already know

The NBA's Christmas Day schedule was recently announced. While the Minnesota Timberwolves got an ideal and exciting matchup with the Denver Nuggets, it's worth noting that all but two of the teams playing on Christmas Day are in the Western Conference. This should serve as a reminder of the obvious: the West is a different monster from the East.

Of course, Christmas matchups aren't the end-all be-all. However, it's a solid gauge of who the best and most relevant teams are.

The West is significantly better than the East

The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers are the lone Eastern Conference squads playing on Christmas. Undoubtedly, there's a strong case that these are the lone two title contenders in the East. The Orlando Magic could be in the mix, but it's tough to make a jump from never winning a playoff series as a core to winning a championship. Besides these three teams, the East is wide open, and it could be argued that these are the only East teams that would make the playoffs in the West.

Conversely, the West is loaded with talent. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Wolves, and Nuggets are all clear contenders. While the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors aren't clear contenders, their experience gives them a puncher's chance. Additionally, the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks are compelling fringe playoff squads.

Of the eight West teams that made the Christmas Day slate, the Los Angeles Clippers were not included. However, like the Lakers and Warriors, they have immense experience and are at the very least a clear playoff squad.

Perhaps the craziest part of all of this is that the West is so loaded when accounting for the Clippers, it's likely one of the West teams that are playing on Christmas won't even make the playoffs. The Mavericks and Spurs are the most obvious candidates. Still, in the NBA, anything can happen. In addition to most of the contenders being from the West, at least seven (perhaps even nine) of the league's top-10 players reside out West.

The West being better than the East isn't exactly a revolutionary concept. However, with Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton being sidelined with injuries, the disparity has never been more significant. Notably, since permanently expanding to the five-game Christmas slate back in 2008, no conference has had fewer than three teams represented.

With the star power of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle, a well-rounded supporting cast, and their playoff experience, the Wolves shouldn't be counted out as title contenders. Regardless, the Wolves' path to reaching their first finals in franchise history or even returning to their third straight conference finals is challenging.