The Minnesota Timberwolves certainly have high expectations as the 2025-26 season draws closer. Back-to-back conference finals appearances have left them on the doorstep of their first NBA Finals appearance.
How often have teams reached, or even better, won the NBA finals the year after losing two consecutive conference finals? Since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976, it hasn’t happened all that frequently.
2 teams have reached NBA finals after losing 2 consecutive conference finals
Since that merger beginning in the 1976-77 season, eight different franchises have lost in the conference finals back-to-back years. The Pacers have seen it happen to them three times, and the Suns twice. The Pistons did so in three straight years from 2006-08.
There has only been one time, though, where a back-to-back conference finals loser has won the NBA finals the following season. That would be the 1991 Bulls in what was Michael Jordan’s first championship year. They finally got past the Bad Boy Pistons that year, before disposing of the Lakers in five games.
The only other instance of a team reaching the NBA finals after two consecutive conference finals is the Pacers in 2000. They did so after losing in the Eastern Conference finals in 1998 and 1999. They battled hard against the Shaq and Kobe Lakers in 2000, but Indiana fell in six games.
There have been the same number of teams that have missed the playoffs as have made the NBA finals after consecutive conference finals losses. They are the Spurs in 1984-85 and the Pacers in 2014-15.
Timberwolves have similarities with that Bulls team
History says that a team in the situation of the Timberwolves doesn’t often win it all the following year, or even make it to the NBA finals. It’s not impossible, though.
They have similarities to that Bulls team. A superstar shooting guard (Jordan and Anthony Edwards) looking to break through and reach their first NBA finals. A veteran starting center (Bill Cartwright and Rudy Gobert) in the latter portion of their playing career. A bruising power forward (Horace Grant and Julius Randle) who are underappreciated at times. A small forward (Scottie Pippen and Jaden McDaniels) who takes pride in defending the opposition’s best player. A young second-year guard (B.J. Armstrong, Rob Dillingham, or Terrence Shannon Jr.) looking to step up and play a larger role.
The Bulls weren’t a clear-cut favorite as they had the fourth-best odds to win the title entering that season. The Timberwolves have the sixth-best odds for 2025-26 according to DraftKings Sportsbook.