**Minnesota Timberwolves at Chicago Bulls**
**Date:** December 29th, 2025
**Time:** 7:00 PM CST
**Location:** United Center
**Television Coverage:** FanDuel Sports Network - North
**Radio Coverage:** Wolves App, iHeart Radio
It’s not entirely clear what Santa Claus left under the Timberwolves’ tree this year, but after Saturday night’s display against the Brooklyn Nets, one thing is painfully obvious: he did **not** bring a sense of pride.
Coming off that emotionally draining, physically brutal Christmas Day slugfest in Denver, a game that took everything they had and still ended in heartbreak, the Wolves walked into Target Center on Saturday looking like a team that had mentally punched out for winter break. Yes, Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle showed up in those beautiful throwback black trees jerseys. They were physically present. But spiritually? Emotionally? Competitively?
They were already on vacation.
And the result was one of the most embarrassing performances this team has put on the floor all season.
Look, I get it. There’s a human element here. The players are real people with families, fatigue, emotions, and the same holiday hangover the rest of us deal with. They had just gone toe-to-toe with the Nuggets in a playoff-level brawl that spilled into overtime. They were probably exhausted and emotionally drained. Saturday night at Target Center probably felt like the last place on Earth they wanted to be.
For those of us with nine-to-fives, this coming week is basically the professional version of sweatpants. Nobody’s working at full speed. Half the office is mentally gone, the other half is pretending to work while scrolling ESPN.com instead of finishing that TPS report.
The difference is… we’re not highly paid professional athletes playing in front of a sold-out arena full of fans who paid real money to watch us do our job.
And what the Wolves gave those fans Saturday night was a masterclass in not caring.
There was no defense. Brooklyn got to the rim whenever they wanted, stacking points in the paint faster than your drunk uncle stacks eggnog refills. When the fourth quarter arrived, Target Center was waiting for the Wolves to flip the switch like they had in Denver…
…except the switch never came.
Instead, Minnesota let a young, hungry Nets team smell blood. And once that happened, Brooklyn didn’t just hang around. They finished the meal.
This is exactly why you don’t “play with your food” in the NBA. Yes, this Wolves team has shown it can summon miraculous comebacks. Saturday night was not one of those nights.
The damage wasn’t just emotional. It was real. Minnesota entered Christmas sitting fourth in the West. Two days later they’re sixth, staring up at the Rockets, Lakers, Nuggets, and Spurs, needing to leapfrog at least three of them if they want that coveted two or three seed. Playing unserious, careless, unmotivated basketball like they did against Brooklyn will make that climb impossible.
Which brings us to Monday night in Chicago, the penultimate game of 2025, and suddenly a whole lot more important than it should be. The Bulls are the NBA’s most reliable middle-of-the-road franchise: always hovering near the play-in, always capable of burning you when you don’t take them seriously. The Wolves have fallen into that trap before. If they want to avoid a full-blown three-game holiday skid and start building momentum toward 2026, they need to walk into the United Center ready to work.
So with that backdrop, here’s what actually matters.
**#1 - Have Some Pride.**
There’s no shame in losing an overtime game in Denver. There _is_ shame in the effort Minnesota gave against Brooklyn. That performance was unacceptable for a team with real postseason ambitions. The Wolves need to channel the frustration from that loss into a focused, physical, angry response. Play the next 48 minutes like a team that understands what just happened to them instead of continuing to wallow in whatever that Brooklyn performance was supposed to be.
**#2 - Guard the Perimeter Like It Matters — Because It Does.**
Chicago has shooters. Josh Giddey and Coby White will absolutely punish you if you give them space. This means Edwards, McDaniels, DiVincenzo, and Clark have to lock in. Real closeouts. No lazy lunges. No allowing free drives to the basket like we saw against the Nets. If the Wolves let Chicago get comfortable from deep, this turns into another long night.
**#3 - Stop Being Sloppy.**
The Wolves practically gift-wrapped points for Brooklyn with careless turnovers and blown finishes at the rim. Possessions matter too much for that. This team has to value the ball, execute crisply, and eliminate the mental mistakes that turn winnable games into uphill battles.
**#4 - Make Your Free Throws — This Is Getting Ridiculous.**
This trend has officially crossed into the “how is this still happening?” phase. Late in the fourth quarter against Brooklyn, Minnesota had missed **eight of 24 free throws**. They were down 11. Do the math. Had they hit consistently (not perfect) from the charity stripe, it would have been a two-possession game. Maybe Brooklyn tightens up. Maybe the crowd gets back into it. Instead, the Wolves handed away points like stocking stuffers. And while we’re here, the Wolves need to cool it on the technicals and the mental mistakes. Every free point matters.
The holidays are over, the excuses are over, and the Wolves don’t get to pretend Saturday didn’t happen.
What they _do_ get is a choice.
They can let that Brooklyn game linger, let it fester, let it quietly define the mood of their winter, or they can turn Chicago into the first page of the next chapter. The teams that matter in this league don’t spiral after frustration. They respond. They show up angry, organized, and intentional. They take stock of their situation and then they start taking ground.
The Western Conference isn’t waiting for the Wolves to figure this out. The ladder is already moving. If Minnesota truly believes it belongs in that top tier, then these next two games aren’t just winnable, they’re **required.**
Chicago is the test. Atlanta is the follow-up.
And by the time the calendar flips to 2026, we’re going to know exactly who this team is.
See More:
* [Timberwolves Game Discussion](/timberwolves-game-previews)