The Timberwolves are playing their first game in the third annual NBA Cup on Friday night against the Utah Jazz. In addition to looking to bounce back from Wednesday’s loss and start stacking some wins in the regular season standings, the Wolves will also be hoping to advance out of the group stage of the Cup for the first time.
Two years ago, the NBA introduced the In-Season Tournament, which has since been renamed as the NBA Cup. The league’s 30 teams are sorted into six pools of five, which are evenly balanced based on the previous season’s records. Each team plays four games on designated NBA Cup nights (from Oct. 31 through Nov. 28), which count both as regular season contests and as group stage games.
The three group winners in each conference, as well as the highest-ranked second place team in each conference, advance to the knockout rounds. Because there are only four games, which makes ties in the standings likely, point differential is critical as the second tiebreaker after head-to-head.
Quarterfinals are at the higher-seeded team’s arena on Dec. 9 and 10, and the semifinals and championship game are in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and 16, respectively. Every game except the championship counts toward the regular season standings. The winners receive a trophy and their share of prize money.
The Wolves are in West Group A for the 2025 Cup. Here’s the full list of teams in the group, along with their finish in last season’s Western Conference standings:
The defending champion Thunder are off to an 8-1 start to this season and are the obvious favorites to win this group. The Timberwolves are currently 4-4, the Kings are 3-5, the Suns are 4-5, and the Jazz are 3-5.
Here’s Minnesota’s schedule in the group:
Ideally, the Wolves would like to be 3-0 with a good point differential heading into that final group stage game against OKC, which would allow them to win the group with a victory or potentially still advance at 3-1 if they keep the score close in a loss.
In the inaugural tournament in 2023, the Wolves finished 3-1 but lost their group to the 4-0 Kings. They had an exactly neutral point differential and finished fifth out of 15 teams in the conference, making them the top West team that did not advance to knockout play. The Lakers beat the Pacers in the championship game.
Last year, Minnesota went 2-2 with a -13 point differential and finished third in their group. The 2024 Cup was won by the Bucks, who took down the Thunder in the title game.
To make NBA Cup games stand out, each team has a special court with the trophy logo in the center and under both baskets. They’re quite colorful.
The Wolves’ special court at Target Center was light blue in 2023 and light green last season. The green is back this year.
The Timberwolves’ 2025 NBA Cup court. / NBA.com
If the Wolves are going to make it out of West Group A, they almost certainly have to start out with a home win over the Jazz on Friday (7:00 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network North). Utah was 17-65 last season, the worst record in the NBA.
This year’s Jazz team has shown some signs of improvement with early wins over the Clippers, Suns, and Celtics, plus a couple losses by two points or fewer. However, they’re 1-4 on the road, including a 24-point loss in Phoenix and a 23-point loss in Charlotte. The Jazz are 25th in offensive rating and 20th in defensive rating in the early part of this season.
Utah’s best player by a good margin is Lauri Markkanen, who is averaging 30.4 points per game so far, including a 51-point game. Third-year guard Keyonte George is second with 22.6 points per game. Notably, starting center Walker Kessler — Utah’s third-leading scorer — is now out for the season with a shoulder injury. That has elevated Jusuf Nurkic into the starting lineup and has pushed veteran Kevin Love into the rotation. Rookies Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. are also part of the rotation for head coach Will Hardy.
The Wolves were 3-1 against the Jazz last season, and the loss came while Minnesota was without Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert.
Edwards (hamstring) will play his second game on Friday since returning to the lineup. The only player out for the Timberwolves due to injury is Terrence Shannon Jr. (foot).
