In back-to-back seasons, the Minnesota Timberwolves have reached the conference finals. It has been their most impressive stretch of two seasons, as before that, they only reached one conference final in franchise history. The team is still looking for its first NBA Finals appearance, though, and it seems they are on the precipice of doing so. Looking at past history, though, it certainly isn’t a sure thing that it will occur.
History of teams to lose back-to-back conference finals
On a recent episode of the Game Theory Podcast, Sam Vecenie spoke with Bryce Simon and Andrew Claudio about the over/under win totals for the Western Conference teams. When they got to the Timberwolves, Claudio asked a trivia question to the other two: who are the four teams that lost back-to-back conference finals since 2000?
One of those had more success the following year, so we’ll get to them last. First, let’s get to the Phoenix Suns during the Mike D’Antoni/Steve Nash era. In 2005, they lost in five games to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2006, even with Amar’e Stoudemire out much of the year, they reached the conference finals again, but lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games. The following year, they reached the conference semifinals, falling again to San Antonio in six games.
Next comes the Indiana Pacers with Paul George, who reached back-to-back conference finals in 2013 and 2014. Both years, they met up against the juggernaut Miami Heat of the LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh days. The first year, Miami advanced in seven games, and the next year, they got past Indiana in six. George got hurt early in 2015, and they missed the playoffs. The Pacers were eliminated in the opening round of the postseason each of the next five years.
The most recent team (prior to the Timberwolves) to lose in the conference finals in consecutive years is the Boston Celtics. This happened in 2017 and 2018, the first year being Isaiah Thomas’ breakout year in the NBA, and the next being with an injured Kyrie Irving. Both years, they lost to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers, first in five games and then in seven.
Timberwolves fans shouldn't worry much
The team not mentioned yet is one that made it a constant theme of at least reaching the conference finals. That would be the Detroit Pistons. For six straight years, spanning from 2003-2008, Detroit made it that far. In 2004, though, they won the NBA Finals. They again reached them in 2005.
It was from 2006-2008 that they reached the conference finals without advancing each year. So out of the four teams that lost in back-to-back conference finals, Detroit is the only one that got that far again in the following year.
The point that Claudio was trying to make is that past history has shown that a team that loses in consecutive conference finals doesn’t take that next step the following year. While it’s a valid observation, it’s not as if there’s been a bunch of instances of it happening prior to Minnesota.
The Pistons almost shouldn’t be included due to their success right before. The Celtics reached the conference finals again in 2020, lost in the NBA finals in 2022, and won it all in 2024. The Pacers dealt with an injury to their star player.
The Timberwolves have continuity on their side, a young superstar in Anthony Edwards, and a defense that should once again be amongst the best. This information shouldn’t worry Wolves fans all that much, and they should still go into the season believing that Minnesota is a championship contender.