As the Minnesota Timberwolves were seen gathering in Paris, France for a Rudy Gobert sponsored team-building vacation, the NBA schedule-makers were hard at work determining who goes to play where and when after the fallout from LeBron James’ Philadelphia 76ers decision.
The Timberwolves were highlighted by the league a lot due to the Anthony Edwards and now LaMelo Ball effect. It should be a fun season with plenty of marquee matchups that Minnesota will be on the front lines of national coverage.
Let’s dive deeper into the upcoming season.
Schedule at a Glance
Nationally Televised Games
The Timberwolves have 27 nationally televised games this season, one less than the 2025-26 season. Despite it being one less game, they arguably have a higher pedigree of nationally televised games. Some of the highlights include:
- Wednesday, October 27th at 7:30pm on ESPN: @ Miami HEAT
- The Season opener against Miami HEAT which will be Giannis Antetokounmpo’s debut in Miami. If the Wolves do not add a power forward before the season, it will be interesting to see who guards Giannis in this matchup. He could easily exploit the specific issues that we are projecting on to this team at this point in time.
- Friday, December 25th at 7:30pm on ABC: vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- The Wolves get a home game against the Thunder during the primetime 7:00 pm CT slot. This is a nice change after the late night Christmas Day affair in Denver a season ago.
- Monday, January 18th at 5:00pm on NBC: @ New York Knicks
- 1/18 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day vs New York Knicks. Defending champion Karl-Anthony Towns’ and his team will play host to Minnesota at Madison Square Garden.
Homecomings
When you make multiple moves in the offseason like the Timberwolves did, there will be multiple reunions that take place throughout the season. We’ll surely hear some boos and cheers alike.
- Monday, November 23rd at 6:30pm on Peacock – vs. Brooklyn Nets
- This will be Julius Randle’s return to Minnesota after he was unceremoniously traded this offseason to the Brooklyn Nets, preceding the LaMelo Ball trade. There should be a lot of feelings from all parties in this one because of the way that this era of the Wolves ended, and will be one that is very interesting to track.
- Friday, January 29th at 8:30pm on ESPN – vs. Charlotte Hornets
- This homecoming should be a lot warmer than the first on this list. This will be Naz Reid’s return to Minnesota which should be filled with a lot of appreciation and a hype video for the ages.
- Monday, February 15 at 11:00am on NBC – @ Charlotte Hornets
- The inverse of the above will happen for LaMelo Ball in Charlotte less than two weeks later. In a morning President’s day matchup, LaMelo will return to Charlotte in what should be another emotional homecoming for a player that did a lot for the Hornets organization.
- Sunday, February 28 at 6:00pm on NBC – vs. Boston Celtics
- This is the biggest “homecoming” of the season, and the easily the most important in Timberwolves franchise history. After Kevin Garnett rejoined the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise last season including multiple marketing campaigns, number 21 will finally get his jersey up in the rafters at long last.
Best Stretches of the Season
Ringing in the New Year
Starting with the Christmas Day game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves have a stretch where they play: at Golden State, at Denver, vs. Denver, at Indiana, vs. San Antonio and at Houston. These are a lot of big matchups against good teams and the calendar flips to 2027. The second Denver Nuggets matchup is on New Year’s Eve Day as well. Minnesota has had some, let’s say memorable, New Year’s experiences. A blowout at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, a loss against the Detroit Pistons before they were good that led to a Player’s Only meeting. If you need an escape from the holidays or your family, this will be a great time to lock in on some Timberwolves hoops.
Intensity Around the All-Star Break
Starting on February 12th right before the All-Star Break and stretching to just after the break on March 2nd, the schedule is at Boston, at Charlotte, vs. San Antonio, vs. Indiana, vs. Boston and at Oklahoma City. With three games before the break and three games after it will be interesting to see how Minnesota looks at this point in the season. This portion is generally difficult to navigate because of the pending vacation with the time right after reserved for the “final stretch” of the season. This will be right around the trade deadline as well so it is always a news-filled time in the season. We saw what happened last year. As the first signs of spring start to sprout, it will be another stretch of fun matchups for Minnesota.
The Finale
The final three games of the season are at Los Angeles Lakers twice, then vs. Houston Rockets. This is always the time of the season where final jockeying is taking place as teams fight for seeding. Hopefully the Timberwolves are not fighting for seeding at this point though. This is where the rubber meets the road and playoff matchups come clearly into view. During the last couple of seasons, there has been some drama with these games, and that could also be the case this year with those teams believed to be in the mix with Minnesota for a top six seed.
What games are you most looking forward to? Maybe a Rob Dillingham homecoming game? We all know that at the end of the day, the Wolves are guaranteed to go 82-0.
