The Timberwolves are officially a primetime product.
The NBA released 80 games of each team’s regular season schedule on Thursday (the remaining two are determined by NBA Cup outcomes). Twenty-seven of those games will be nationally televised for Minnesota.
That’s actually down one from a year ago, but included in those 27 are some of the NBA’s most high-profile slots:
\-An opener in Miami on the second day of the season
\-A Thanksgiving eve game in Oklahoma City
\-A Christmas night game against Oklahoma City
\-A New Year’s Eve matinee against Denver
\-A matinee in New York on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
\-A President’s Day showdown in Charlotte
\-A Saturday night, primetime showing against Philadelphia in March
The addition of LaMelo Ball, one of the NBA’s premier young stars, to pair with a superstar in Anthony Edwards makes for an eyeball-inducing pairing and an interesting storyline for fans to track this season. It makes sense for the NBA to want to highlight the Timberwolves on as many of the grandest stages as possible.
Ball (No. 15) and Edwards (No. 6) both ranked in the top 15 of NBA jersey sales last season.
The Lakers, Spurs, Knicks and 76ers all hit the maximum allottment of nationally-televised games of 34. Oklahoma City, Golden State and Denver also received more nationally-televised contests than Minnesota.
Here are other nuggets of note regarding [Minnesota’s 2026-27 slate](https://www.twincities.com/2026/08/13/minnesota-timberwolves-full-82-game-nba-regular-season-schedule/):
#### Home cookin’
Minnesota touts a franchise-record eight-game homestand in November, besting the previous mark by one. That could allow the Timberwolves to either get off to a blistering start, or weather potential bumps in the road as they acclimate to the Ball era.
Conversely, Minnesota’s longest road trip spans just four games. And that April trip features three consecutive games in Los Angeles (one against the Clippers, and two against the Lakers).
#### Back to back
The Timberwolves sport 13 “back to backs” in which they’ll play on consecutive evenings this season, which matches their tally from a year ago.
Back to backs are generally considered a hinderance due to their wear on legs, but they’re a common part of every team’s campaign.
#### You again?
Four times this season, the Timberwolves will play the same team in consecutive contests. They’ll play Portland twice at Target Center in November, host the Lakers for a pair in December and travel to Los Angeles to play the Lakers twice in April.
The only home-road split in such matchups is at the end of December, when the Wolves play in Denver on Dec. 28 and welcome the Nuggets to Minneapolis on Dec. 31.
#### Games of note
The biggest home games for Minnesota this season include:
\-Hosting the defending champion Knicks (and Karl-Anthony Towns) on Nov. 19
\-The Christmas night game against the Thunder
\-Naz Reid’s homecoming on Jan. 29 when Charlotte visits
\-LeBron James’ first game in Minneapolis on March 13 after “spurning” the Wolves in free agency
#### Briefly
The Timberwolves plan to announce Kevin Garnett’s jersey retirement date on Friday. Garnett, who’s now a team ambassador, attended one Timberwolves’ game last season, the regular season finale against New Orleans.