Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Boston Celtics
Date: November 29th, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM CST
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network - North, NBA TV
Radio Coverage: Wolves App, iHeart Radio
If you had told me a week ago that the Timberwolves would come home from their three-game road swing at 10–8, I would have assumed the team acquired a violent stomach bug that forced them to field a starting five of Joe Ingles, Bones Hyland, Johnny Juzang, Kyden Randle, and Crunch. Instead, the Wolves delivered the basketball equivalent of leaving Thanksgiving leftovers on the counter for three days and insisting they’re still good. Two games, Phoenix and Sacramento, where Minnesota didn’t get beat so much as collapse under the weight of their own late-game incompetence. Then a third against the Thunder that was so perfectly winnable that only this franchise could lose it in such a uniquely painful way: 15 missed free throws in a 1-point game with two minutes remaining. That’s not just shooting yourself in the foot. That’s emptying the clip.
The frustrating part is that for long stretches in the past three games, the Wolves actually played good basketball. They defended, they moved the ball, they traded blows with the defending champs. They even clawed their way back from double-digit holes on the road. And then the fourth quarter started, and suddenly it looked like every late-game trauma from the last five years came flooding back at once. Turnovers, rushed shots, mental lapses, Finch sitting on timeouts as if he were being charged a fee for each whistle. It was déjà vu of the worst kind.
And now, after the most self-inflicted week of the season, the Wolves come home to face the Boston Celtics. It’s a rested Minnesota team, playing in front of a restless crowd, facing a Celtics roster missing Jayson Tatum and fully reliant on Jalen Brown to pretend he’s Batman without Robin. If there was ever a game that should be about regaining your footing, not on paper, but in your soul, this is the one. Home floor, afternoon tip, national audience. It’s not a “must win” in terms of standings. It’s a “must remember who you are” game.
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Take Jalen Brown off the table.
Boston without Tatum is simply not the team that dominated the past two seasons. Their offense funnels through Jalen Brown, and when he’s cooking, the Celtics can manufacture just enough offense to make life complicated. When he’s blanketed, they turn into a collection of try-hard role guys hoping Payton Pritchard catches fire.
This is exactly why Jaden McDaniels was given $136 million. Lock-and-key defense on elite wings is supposed to be his superpower, and this is the matchup where he has to lean into it. Jaden needs to push Brown off his spots, force him into Rudy’s orbit, take away rhythm jumpers and dare Derrick White or Pritchard to be heroes.
2. Play adult basketball with the ball.
If there is one theme uniting the Wolves’ three-game meltdown, it’s this: the ball became a live grenade. They weren’t forced into mistakes. They manufactured them. Phoenix didn’t out-execute them; Minnesota handed them the game like a waiter handing a check. Sacramento didn’t steal a win; the Wolves simply tripped over their own shoelaces. And against Oklahoma City, the turnovers coalesced with missed free throws in a way that can only be described as performance art.
Boston is not a team you gift possessions to. Even undermanned, they thrive on momentum swings. Minnesota has to treat every possession like it matters — swing through the offense, accept the easy read, don’t force the hero pass. If the Wolves continue to be careless with the rock, Boston will gleefully escort them to 10–9.
3. Use the chip on your shoulder.
You cannot play three straight emotionally catastrophic finishes… and then walk back into Target Center flat. This is where maturity shows up. The Wolves just got a holiday break they desperately needed. It’s a home game after a reset. The Celtics had to hop on a plane and fly halfway across the country before their turkey could start to digest. The starters should come out with purpose, attacking early, forcing pace, and making Boston uncomfortable immediately.
Hit them in the mouth, not with long, stagnant possessions, but by running. Push transition. Attack the hoop. Clean up the glass. Make the Celtics defend your size instead of letting them grind this into a halfcourt slog. The Wolves have the physical advantages and the rest advantage. Use them.
4. The Edwards–Randall reset game.
There are nights where stars need volume. There are nights where stars need control. This one is the second type. We know Anthony Edwards can go nuclear. We’ve seen it twice in the last week. But there’s a difference between scoring 40 to carry and scoring 40 to isolate yourself from the rest of your team. The latter is poison.
Edwards has to be aggressive without becoming predictable. You can’t hunt step-backs until you’re down six with six minutes left. Drive, kick, bend the defense. The Wolves’ best version of themselves is when Ant’s gravity creates daylight for everyone else: McDaniels cutting, Reid popping, Donte raining threes.
Randall, meanwhile, has to find the balance he had a month ago. The “bully ball and facilitate” version of Julius is indispensable. The “18 dribbles into a contested fadeaway” version gets you run out of the gym. Boston isn’t big, and they aren’t deep. You can put pressure on them by attacking in sequence, avoiding hero ball, and forcing them to defend movement.
THE VERDICT: A GAME ABOUT SELF-RESPECT
This isn’t about the NBA Cup anymore. Minnesota blew that opportunity.
This game is about whether the Wolves want to be taken seriously as a contender.
They’ve shown us the talent. We know what the ceiling looks like. They’ve gone toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league for 40 minutes at a time. But contenders don’t reinvent creative ways to lose games they should win. Contenders don’t miss 15 free throws. Contenders don’t give up double-digit leads twice to inferior rosters.
At some point, the excuses dry up. The officiating. The back-to-backs. The travel. “The guys are tired.” All of it becomes background noise, and what’s left is whether you can win basketball games that demand composure.
Boston at home is the type of game you win if you’re real. If the Wolves come out locked in, they can reset the narrative and remind everyone what this roster looks like when it plays to its capabilities. If they stumble into the same late-game malaise again, then we know exactly what they are: a fun, talented team that still hasn’t learned how to close.
It isn’t a matchup against a conference rival. It isn’t the playoffs. It’s simply a Saturday in Minneapolis, and that might be exactly where you learn who you are.