Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Utah Jazz
Date: November 7th, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM CST
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network – North, KARE 11
Radio Coverage: Wolves App, iHeart Radio
Rollercoaster. That’s the only word that fits last year’s Timberwolves, and, from what we’ve experienced so far, maybe this year’s too. Every night felt like flipping a coin between “best team in the West” and “AAU team that just met at the airport.” They’d throttle the Warriors one night, then lose to a G League roster from Portland 24 hours later. You never knew which version was showing up.
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Now here we are, eight games into the 2025-26 campaign, about 10% of the way through, and the story feels familiar. Anthony Edwards’ hamstring has already hijacked a week of the season, and Chris Finch looks like he’s aged a decade in eight games. The Wolves are 4-4, squarely in that annoying zone between contender and question mark. They’ve shown flashes of brilliance and stretches of pure “what are we doing out there?” energy. But here’s the good news: the NBA schedule gods might’ve just handed them a parachute.
Tomorrow night in Utah kicks off a weird little back-and-forth stretch with the Jazz and Kings, a soft pocket of schedule before a Saturday night blockbuster rematch with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. More importantly, it’s the Wolves’ debut in this year’s NBA Cup. And yeah, I can hear you groaning already, but come on. You’re a Wolves fan. You’ve been through thirty-six years of draft lotteries and moral victories. If there’s a trophy at the end of anything, even if it’s shaped like a novelty cereal bowl, we’re in. We want it.
Because here’s the thing: the Wolves have never sniffed the knockout stage of the NBA Cup. Two years running, they’ve been bounced in group play, watching the Thunder and Lakers get all the glitzy Vegas airtime. This year’s group gives them a fighting chance. Oklahoma City is the big boss, sure, but the rest? Kings, Jazz, Suns — all winnable games. You take care of business against those three, and suddenly the big showdown with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder means something. That’s the kind of carrot this team needs right now: short-term goals, a little urgency, and a reason to care about Tuesday nights in November.
So what has to happen Friday in Minneapolis to turn the page from the Garden debacle? Let’s dig in.
Key No. 1: Bring the Damn Intensity
The Wolves didn’t just lose in New York. They got punked. Out-hustled, out-rebounded, out-everything’d. The Knicks grabbed 21 offensive boards, turned second chances into momentum swings, and by the fourth quarter were clowning Minnesota like it was a rec-league run. You could practically see Finch’s soul leaving his body after the third consecutive missed box-out. That can’t happen again.
Utah doesn’t have the horses. This is a talent mismatch. If the Wolves show up like it’s a Sunday morning scrimmage, it’ll get dicey. But if they lock in, push pace, pressure the glass, and make Utah play catch-up, this should be a 30-point blowout. The NBA Cup has a point-differential tiebreaker, which means style points actually matter. If the Wolves care at all about advancing, they need to come out swinging and never let go.
Key No. 2: Rebound Like It’s Your Job (Because It Is)
Finch called out the Wolves’ effort after the Knicks game. Translation: they got bullied. Mitchell Robinson ate their lunch and asked for seconds. That’s on everyone, not just Gobert. Naz, Randle, McDaniels, and Edwards need to crash the boards, finish possessions, and don’t assume Rudy will do all the dirty work. Rebounding is contagious when one guy starts it. It’s contagious in the other direction too when nobody does.
When this team moves the rock, they look unstoppable. The second quarter in New York was a perfect snapshot of crisp passes and guys cutting with purpose which lead to a 14-0 run. But when things get tight, the ball sticks. Ant and Randle both have that “hero mode” gene, and when it’s good, it’s electric. When it’s bad, it’s like watching someone try to dribble through airport security. Minnesota needs to trust the system. Kick, swing, shoot. Do it again.
Key No. 4: The Non-Gobert Minutes
This is where the Wolves have been getting cooked. The second Rudy hits the bench, their interior defense becomes a choose-your-own-adventure book written by a sadist. If Naz Reid or Randle is anchoring the five, the perimeter guys have to tighten up rotations and keep dribble penetration in check. Whatever it takes, the non-Gobert minutes can’t keep sabotaging otherwise solid defensive stretches.
So here we are, the first real “gut check” game of the season. Not because of the opponent, but because of what it represents. You don’t get to the conference finals twice by accident. This team knows what it looks like when they’re locked in, and they know what it looks like when they’re not. Friday night is about reclaiming that identity of the snarling, connected, punch-first version of the Wolves. The one that took the Lakers and Warriors to the brink last spring.
Utah shouldn’t be the obstacle. Complacency could be. If the Wolves want to remind the league that last spring wasn’t a fluke, this is where the climb starts. You can’t fix inconsistency overnight, but you can plant a flag. And if they handle their business, maybe this time the NBA Cup won’t just be another early-season footnote. It might be the moment they finally start acting like the team we all think they can be.
