In the last two years, the Minnesota Timberwolves made their second and third conference finals appearances in franchise history. That built hope in perhaps this being the year that they finally make their first NBA Finals.
Those conference finalist teams just felt different, though, than this year's squad. Minnesota entered the playoffs with confidence and momentum. This year, it has now been almost half a season where the Timberwolves have been a middling team, and the postseason is just two weeks away.
Timberwolves’ lacking momentum from past two yearsÂ
In the 2023-24 season, the Wolves were consistently an excellent team throughout the season. While they finished just shy of the top seed in the Western Conference, their 56-26 record was their second-best in team history. The No. 3 seed Wolves were seen as a title threat, and deservedly so.
As I mentioned, the Wolves have been fairly average for nearly half a season. That occurred last year as well, except it was in the beginning, and it was for slightly longer than half a season. They went just 22-21 in their first 43 outings, before winning 27 of their last 39 games.
That included Minnesota going 8-1 in its last 9 regular season games. It took a while for the team to adjust to adding Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo so late in the offseason, but once they all fully got acclimated, the Timberwolves again looked like one of the league’s better teams.
This year? Minnesota is just 19-17 in their last 36 games, and only 6-8 in their last 14. They are ending the regular season in a real offensive funk. In their past seven outings, the Wolves’ 102.4 offensive rating is the worst in the NBA. Three of their six worst shooting games from the field on the season have come since March 20, including a March 28 outing against the Detroit Pistons, where they made a miserable 31.8 percent of their attempts from the field.
Right now, the Timberwolves just have to hope they enter the postseason with a little more momentum and some better health. Anthony Edwards has missed seven of the last nine contests and is currently listed as questionable for their next game. Jaden McDaniels is possibly out for the remainder of the regular season with a knee ailment, and the hope remains that he is available once the playoffs begin.
The Wolves have 5 games remaining, starting with Sunday’s tilt against the Charlotte Hornets, to attempt to flip the switch and once again be looking good entering the playoffs.