Coming off a disappointing performance Friday against the Lakers, the Timberwolves enter their home opener on Sunday with a 1-1 record. Coming into the Target Center are the Pacers, a team that has lost its first two outings and is a far different team than the one that won the Eastern Conference last season.
This seems like a prime opportunity for the Wolves to get back into the win column. Remarkably, Minnesota is aiming for its 10th straight win in its regular season home opener.
Timberwolves haven't lost home opener since 2015
It’s almost been a full 10 years since the Timberwolves lost their first regular season contest playing at the Target Center. They fell to the Trail Blazers by the score of 106-101 on November 2, 2015, the last time their home opener ended in a defeat.
That was so long ago that Kevin Garnett was on the team for what would be his final NBA season. Andre Miller was still in the league and was also on the Wolves roster. Sam Mitchell was their head coach, and players who saw action in that game for Minnesota that are still active are Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Taurean Price, and Zach LaVine.
In the past nine home openers, the Timberwolves are 9-0 with an average margin of victory near 13 points. Last season, they defeated the Raptors 112-101 in their first home outing. Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle led the way in that game with 24 points, and four others reached double figures in scoring.
Pacers a shell of the team that reached the NBA finals last season
On Sunday night, Minnesota will be facing a Pacers team that doesn’t quite resemble the one that reached the NBA finals last season. Tyrese Haliburton is out with a torn Achilles. Andrew Nembhard will likely remain sidelined with a strained shoulder.
Bennedict Mathurin left Saturday's game with a sore right foot and could miss tonight's game as well. T.J. McConnell is out with a hamstring injury. Myles Turner left to sign with the Bucks in the offseason.
There is no reason for Minnesota to slip up in this game and should rebound from a subpar performance. As of this writing, DraftKings Sportsbook lists them as 12.5-point favorites. Indiana is in the second leg of a back-to-back after a 25-point loss to the Grizzlies.
It will be a bit disturbing if the Timberwolves can’t extend their home opener winning streak to 10.