Statement win is an overused phrase in sports.
In college football, every time a ranked team beats a ranked team, it’s a statement win. Likewise, the last game of a series sweep against a divisional opponent in baseball gets the same label. Football, every divisional game, statement win.
In the NBA, a playoff team plays a playoff team, you guessed it, a statement win. If the game across any sport is on national TV, someone will inevitably call it a statement win for the victor.
That said, on Wednesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a 115-105 statement win over the Denver Nuggets on ESPN. The Wolves’ win in Denver has reset expectations for Minnesota’s season, and they have a schedule that opens new possibilities.
I’ve often thought this season, If someone went into a coma after the Karl-Anthony Towns trade and just woke up, what would they think?
They occasionally would think the sky is falling, like when the Timberwolves lost seven of nine games in November, including two to the Portland Trail Blazers. They would be elated if they woke up at the beginning of December. The Wolves ripped through five of six wins before the new year, including two over the Los Angeles Lakers and one over the LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors.
What about the end of February? They would see the Wolves lose six of eight, the league suspend Anthony Edwards, and a loss to the Utah Jazz without him.
But then again, what if they woke up today?
By winning in Denver, the Wolves extended their win streak to six games, the longest active streak in the Western Conference. And it all started after the shorthanded loss to Utah. They won those six games in a ten-day stretch, traveling from Phoenix to Minnesota, to Charlotte, down to Miami, and back to Minnesota before jetting to Denver — 5,883 miles of travel. Still, the Wolves took care of business against every team, regardless of their record.
There’s a world where someone could wake up from KAT trade-related shock on Monday, April 14, and the Wolves have won 50 games this season. In doing so, the Timberwolves would have their first back-to-back 50-win seasons since they rattled off three seasons in a row between 2001-02 and 2003-04. Our friend awaking from the coma would likely rub their eyes in disbelief that the trade worked out so well and be excited to watch another Wolves home playoff series.
Minnesota is potentially a 50-win team with the tenth-best offense in the NBA and the sixth-best defense that has won six straight. It has a bona fide superstar in Anthony Edwards and arguably seven other players worthy of a starting lineup spot elsewhere in the NBA.
The Wolves must change their expectations. Facing the third-easiest schedule in the league, they should expect to end the season with 50 wins.
Now, they have the luxury of resetting their season. As the seventh seed, the 38-29 Timberwolves play seven of their next eight games at home. Their only road trip was a two-hour flight to Indiana on three days rest before taking the same flight back home. The Wolves will likely be odds-on favorites in seven games if not all eight.
I want some opinions…
Here’s the rest of the schedule for Minnesota.
I think I have them finishing with 50 wins… I know that sounds crazy and very optimistic but 12-3 seems very obtainable when you lay out the schedule. #BringTheNice pic.twitter.com/sjZny0VTR1
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) March 13, 2025
They start with the Orlando Magic, who have lost six of seven games and are six games below .500 Orlando Magic. Then they face the Jazz and a back-to-back against the New Orleans Pelicans, the two worst teams in the Western Conference. New Orleans and Utah have been eliminated from playoff contention and have nothing to lay for but draft lottery odds.
Sandwiched in between the Jazz and Pelicans is a home game against the Pacers. The Wolves will play Indiana twice, and the Pacers are fighting for seeding. Still, Indiana is a beatable team for the Wolves. Minnesota closes the stretch against a resurgent Detroit Pistons team, and the final game against the Suns is at home.
The expectations have changed. The Wolves should win six or seven of these eight games leading to the season’s home stretch, which is more challenging. Still, of the final 7 games, Minnesota faces the Jazz once, two against the eliminated Brooklyn Nets, and one against a Philadelphia 76ers team, with next to nothing going right this season. Pencil in four more wins.
I want some opinions…
Here’s the rest of the schedule for Minnesota.
I think I have them finishing with 50 wins… I know that sounds crazy and very optimistic but 12-3 seems very obtainable when you lay out the schedule. #BringTheNice pic.twitter.com/sjZny0VTR1
— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) March 13, 2025
If the Wolves take care of business against the league’s worst teams, they would be a 49-win team. Therefore, they would only need one win over the Memphis Grizzlies, Denver Nuggets, or Milwaukee Bucks as the biggest tests on the schedule, all on the road and in the first ten days of April. The Wolves should win one. That’s their path to 50, shocking the KAT-coma patients – hopefully, not into a second coma that causes them to miss out on the playoffs.