The Minnesota Timberwolves traded for All-Star Rudy Gobert this off-season with one goal: to win 50-plus games and obtain home-court advantage in the playoffs. There have been many questions surrounding the Wolves heading into this season. Will Gobert fit in Minnesota? What if this vision doesn’t pan out? Despite these questions, the Wolves must fulfill one fundamental requirement in everyone’s mind. They need to win games – a lot of them.
The first half of the 2022-23 season sets a unique mix of challenges for the Wolves. It will be a great way to learn everything we need to know about the roster while also serving as a training course before the second half of the season rolls around.
The Wolves could not have picked a better time for their schedule to get tough.
The roster will need time to get on the same page. The first half is manageable, allowing the Wolves to coalesce through the first 41. By the time the games mean something more, the Wolves should all be on the same page and looking to gear up for the postseason.
Minnesota will face 20 teams from the halfway point of the season to the All-Star break. That’s where the competition will start to pick up for the first consistent time thus far in the season.
- vs. Phoenix, Jan. 13
- vs. Denver three times, Jan. 18, Feb. 5, and 7 (two on the road)
- vs. Memphis twice, Jan. 27 and Feb.10 (one on the road)
- vs. Golden State, Feb. 1
- at Dallas, Feb. 13
I can see the Wolves winning most of these games – except that Golden State matchup. I’m not high on the Warriors only because they won the NBA Finals. Instead, because of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. We all know the talent Curry possesses. He averaged 4.5 three-point makes on 38% from the arc in 64 games last season. However, Thompson, 32, is coming off of an Achilles tear which sat him out for most of the 2021-22 season. Despite this, I still view Klay as one of the best shooters in the League. After a normal offseason, I expect the “Splash Brothers” to be back in full effect next season.
Teams that run a bigger lineup against the “Splash Bros” have a history of crumbling when matching up against the two. However, Minnesota has some solid perimeter defenders in Jaden McDaniels, Kyle Anderson, Austin Rivers, and Taurean Prince. You could even throw Anthony Edwards into that mix as well.
I see Chris Finch getting slightly more creative with the rotations in matchups like this. I don’t see the starters changing once they’re locked in, but Finch may go to a guy like Rivers quicker off the bench than he would other nights. The same goes for Prince or Anderson.
Minnesota ran a high-paced defensive scheme last season, flying around to get stops and racking up the fast break opportunities. However, the Wolves got beat to the paint quite often. Assuming Elston Turner‘s defensive game plan is still that chaotic scheme, adding Gobert will allow the Wolves to gamble a little more than before, especially when they need help in the paint.
Having a stretch like this right before the All-Star break, when everyone is looking forward to time off, will test Minnesota’s resilience. At the same time, this is just a preview of what the Wolves will have to endure following the break.
After the All-Star break, the Wolves go on a 20-game stretch to finish the regular season. Fifteen of those matchups will be against postseason-bound teams, as listed below.
- at Golden State twice, Feb. 26 and March 26
- at L.A. Clippers, Feb. 28
- vs. L.A Lakers twice, March 3 and 31 (one on the road)
- vs. Philadelphia, March 7
- vs. Brooklyn twice, March 10 and April 4 (one on the road)
- vs. Atlanta twice, March 13 and 22 (one on the road)
- vs. Boston, March 15
- at Chicago, March 17
- at New York, March 20
- at Phoenix, March 29
- vs. New Orleans, April 9
Not only is this the longest and most challenging stretch that the Wolves will go through up until this point, but Minnesota’s combined record against all 11 of those clubs is also 388-546 all-time. Of course, that number will likely trend in the opposite position with how improved the roster is. Still, it’s not great.
If the Wolves want to end the season looking like a postseason threat, they will need to play above .500 basketball or better through this stretch.
The second half is much more difficult than the first. Still, it will be exciting to see how this team performs. For the first time in years, we aren’t riddled with fear when looking at a tough stretch for the Timberwolves. They will answer many questions about the team in the first half. However, the last 41 games will prove much more critical if the Wolves want to make a deep postseason run.
