The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2026-27 schedule is out, and it already has a few dates that jump off the page.
Minnesota opens the season on Oct. 21 in South Beach against the Miami Heat and finishes at home against the Houston Rockets on April 11. Along the way, the Wolves picked up 27 national TV games - 11 on ESPN or ABC, 10 on NBC/Peacock and six on Amazon Prime - which is one fewer than last season and good for eighth-most in the league.
But the real fun is in the individual matchups. Some are about the opponent.
Some are about the moment. A few are about both.
The first game of the year brings a pretty immediate stress test. The Timberwolves will face Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and the Heat in Miami, and it will be Antetokounmpo’s regular-season debut with his new team.
That frontcourt is a problem for an undersized Minnesota group, especially at power forward. Miami has its own headache, too: figuring out who handles both LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards.
With both teams sorting through new-look rosters, this one could turn into an offensive game from the jump.
Christmas Day is another big one, and for the first time in franchise history, the Wolves will host one at Target Center. Oklahoma City comes in for a 7:00 p.m.
CT primetime matchup, giving Minnesota its third straight Christmas appearance. The Wolves are 2-2 all-time on Dec. 25, and this one carries extra weight because it comes against the other championship co-favorite and the team that eliminated Minnesota in the 2025 Western Conference Finals.
Last season, the Wolves lost on Christmas to Denver after an Edwards three-pointer forced overtime. The year before, they beat Dallas in what ended up being Luka Dončić’s final game with the Mavericks.
There’s also a strong case that the most chaotic night on the calendar comes at the end of the year. Minnesota plays Denver on Dec. 28 and again on Dec. 31, with the first meeting in Denver and the second at Target Center.
The Wolves play four back-to-back rematches like that this season, but this is the one that stands out. Nuggets games have a habit of getting wild, and New Year’s Eve in Minneapolis has the feel of a game that could go off the rails.
Last year, the Wolves finished 2025 with a blowout loss to Atlanta, so they’ll be trying to avoid a repeat against a Denver team that will be looking for payback.
The day after Thanksgiving should bring one of the loudest atmospheres of the season. Minnesota hosts Memphis on Nov. 25, and the date alone gives it a different kind of juice.
After a Thursday of NFL games and turkey, the Target Center crowd should be full of college kids and young fans back in town visiting family, which usually raises the noise level in a hurry. The game is also part of the NBA Cup, so there’s extra importance attached to it - and likely a uniquely colored floor, with everyone hoping this year’s court isn’t lime green again.
The Wolves’ final game before the All-Star Break comes on Feb. 18 against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, another playoff rematch. That spot on the schedule can get strange, with teams either rolling or already half a step into vacation mode.
Minnesota had both versions last year, beating Atlanta and Portland by more than 20 points before the break. Against San Antonio, though, the Wolves will probably need a sharp night to get the result, since the Spurs are one of the co-favorites to win the championship.
And then there’s Jan. 29, when Naz Reid comes back to Target Center in a Charlotte Hornets uniform. That’s the one that will probably hit hardest emotionally.
Reid became a folk hero in Minnesota after the Wolves signed him undrafted out of LSU in 2019 and watched him grow into a Sixth Man of the Year award winner. Between the beach towels, the tattoos and even the sign outside a pizza parlor urging cars to show love, he was embraced all over the Twin Cities.
His return won’t be an easy night for a lot of fans in the building.
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Rudy Gobert Gave Timberwolves Fans A Reason To Feel Good Again
An offseason trip to France gave Timberwolves fans a fresh look at what Minnesota is trying to build before the next season begins. Organized and funded by Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball, the team-building stay mixed workouts with time together away from the usual grind, and Rudy Gobert helped put that work on display by sharing video from the trip on social media.
For a team coming off a playoff appearance, the hope is that chemistry off the floor carries over once the games count. Goberts clips offered exactly the kind of small but encouraging snapshot supporters like to see in August: a group getting in work together, staying connected, and treating the offseason as more than just a break before camp. [Read more 🡒]
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Naz Reids next trip to Target Center figures to carry a little extra weight for Timberwolves fans. After seven seasons in Minnesota, the longtime reserve became a bigger part of the franchises identity than a typical bench scorer ever does, capped by his NBA Sixth Man of the Year season in 2023-24 before he was sent to Charlotte in June in the LaMelo Ball trade.
Now expected to start for the Hornets, Reid will make his return to Minneapolis on January 29, and the building should treat it like one of those rare regular-season nights that feels personal. He was embraced here for his production, his growth and the way he connected with the fan base, so the reaction inside Target Center is likely to be strong when he steps back on the floor in a different uniform. [Read more 🡒]
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The wrinkle is that the first meeting on Oct. 31 will not be nationally televised, a decision that is likely to stir the usual debate about how the NBA chooses to showcase its most marketable young teams. From a basketball standpoint, it is the kind of game that can tell you something real about both sides, especially with Minnesota trying to blend its new pieces and San Antonio continuing to build around Wembanyama. Even before the games tip off, it already feels like one of those matchups the league may end up wishing it had put in a bigger spotlight. [Read more 🡒]