Wolves struck in extremely difficult stretch of games; no relief in sight

The Timberwolves play the Celtics Thursday night in what will be Minnesota's 15th consecutive game against a team with a .500 or better record.

Dec 31, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid (11) reacts after an officials call on a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Timberwolves (17-15) made it through December without flushing the season down the drain. That's a good sign considering they were a game under .500 when the calendar flipped from November to December and the schedule in the 12th month of the year was extremely tough.

Looking back, it looks even more challenging than it did at the outset of December. In fact, the Timberwolves haven't played a team that enters play Thursday with a losing record since they faced the Sacramento Kings the day before Thanksgiving.

That's a stretch of 14 consecutive games against teams with a .500 or better record.

It'll be 15 straight when they host the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. On the flip side, the Celtics have had 14 games all season against teams with .500+ records.

Celtics have played 14 such games all season. https://t.co/NgqpSH1w5z

— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) January 2, 2025

The rest of January won't be all that easy, either. Of the 16 games Minnesota has this month, 11 are against teams that currently are .500 or better. The only sub-.500 teams they play in January are the Pistons (15-18), Pelicans (5-29), Wizards (6-25), Suns (15-17) and Jazz (7-25).

The stretch of games Jan. 9-27 is pretty nasty. Outside of playing the Wizards on Jan. 13, the Wolves have games against the Magic (20-15), Grizzlies (23-11), Warriors (16-16), Knicks (24-10), Cavaliers (29-4), Grizzlies again, Mavericks (20-14), Nuggets (19-13) and Hawks (18-16).

And not to get too far ahead, but there's a really nasty stretch of games in mid-February when the Wolves face, in order, the Cavs, Bucks, Thunder, Rockets, Thunder, Thunder and Lakers.

Life in the Western Conference is difficult and it's not going to change so the Timberwolves better get used to being on the grind.