Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
Date: January 31st, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM CST
Location: FedEx Forum
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network – North
Radio Coverage: Wolves App, iHeart Radio<\/p>\n
If there was one major takeaway from the Wolves\u2019 demolition of the defending champs on Thursday night, it\u2019s this: Minneosta absolutely has the proverbial light switch. And not the \u201csometimes we lock in, sometimes we don\u2019t\u201d light switch that every NBA team claims to have in January. I mean the full-on, how are these even the same people? version\u2014where you watch them torch Oklahoma City Thunder on the second night of a back-to-back, build a 20-point lead, and control the game basically start-to-finish\u2026 and then you think back to Sunday afternoon\u2019s sleepwalking fiasco against Golden State Warriors and you feel like you\u2019ve been watching two different franchises sharing the same jerseys.<\/p>\n
And sure, you can try to explain it away. Emotions. Turmoil. The off-court noise that\u2019s been swirling around Minneapolis. Fine. Maybe that\u2019s part of it. But the deeper issue is that the \u201coff\u201d games didn\u2019t start last week. They\u2019re sprinkled all over this season like landmines: the abysmal effort against Chicago Bulls, the fourth-quarter collapse against the Utah Jazz, the late-December face plants against Brooklyn and Atlanta. Those were choices. Those were \u201cwe didn\u2019t feel like it\u201d nights. And that\u2019s why the Wolves are sitting where they\u2019re sitting: the No. 5 seed out West, a half-game behind Houston Rockets for the four spot, rather than hanging with Denver and San Antonio in that scrum for the 2 and 3 seeds.<\/p>\n
So yes, it probably sounds like I\u2019m being harsh and doom-and-gloom after the most impressive win of the season. But it\u2019s only because the OKC game was a reminder of what this team is when it decides to be serious. When the defense is connected. When the ball moves. When the pace is controlled. When the Wolves stop treating possessions like optional. When they play like a team that has been to back-to-back Western Conference Finals and remembers what that feels like. Because when they play like that\u2026 they\u2019re a nightmare.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s the other reason that Thursday mattered: it reframed the fear. Early in the season, the biggest nightmare scenario was ending up on OKC\u2019s side of the bracket and getting wiped off the map by the champs. But now? The Wolves have taken two of three from OKC. They\u2019ve looked good doing it. And if they had hit free throws in that first matchup (yes, I\u2019m dragging us back to that crime scene again) they might honestly be 3\u20130 against them. The Thunder weren\u2019t at full strength Thursday, missing key guys, and we don\u2019t get to pretend that doesn\u2019t matter. But the larger point stands: Minnesota can absolutely take OKC to the wire and impose their will. Anthony Edwards is one of the few guys in the league who can hold serve with the offensive robot that is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and when Minnesota is rolling, they can make the Thunder look small and uncomfortable in a way not many teams can.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the dangerous part.<\/p>\n
Because after a win like that, after a statement game, after the crowd buzz, after the \u201cwe\u2019re back\u201d energy, here comes the ultimate letdown spot. The Wolves now get a weekend trip to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies without Ja Morant and Zach Edey, with a couple more rotation guys floating around as questionable game-time decisions. This is exactly the kind of game where Minnesota, especially this version of Minnesota, can start reading its own press clippings, take a few sloppy possessions early, and accidentally turn the night into a street fight. And the worst part? If they do that, Thursday\u2019s masterpiece starts to feel like a wasted work of art. This is the \u201cmake it count\u201d game. You don\u2019t beat the champs and then hand it back by losing to a wounded opponent two days later. That\u2019s how you end up in the play-in and spend April pretending it\u2019s \u201cnot a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
So with that, here are the keys to the game.<\/p>\n
#1: Don\u2019t play down to the competition\u2014because Memphis has already proven they\u2019ll take your lunch money if you let them.
This is where the Wolves have to stop treating urgency like a special occasion. Memphis, especially shorthanded Memphis, should not be allowed to hang around. And yet the Wolves have had this recurring habit this season: the moment the opponent looks \u201cboring,\u201d Minnesota starts acting like the game is a suggestion. They can\u2019t do that here. The whole point of Thursday was rediscovering what \u201cserious basketball\u201d looks like: shrinking the floor, defending the perimeter with real resistance, rotating like you actually like your teammates, protecting the paint, and making the other team earn everything. If the Wolves come out flat and start giving Memphis easy drives, open threes, and second chances, then they\u2019re basically telling everyone, the fans, the conference, themselves, that Thursday was a one-night rental.<\/p>\n
#2: Dominate the paint like you\u2019re supposed to\u2014because this is a size matchup that should tilt hard in Minnesota\u2019s favor.
One of the underrated parts of the OKC win was how physical Minnesota played. They didn\u2019t treat it like a track meet. They treated it like a \u201cwe\u2019re bigger than you and we\u2019re going to remind you\u201d game. Now they get a Memphis team still without Edey, and the Wolves should smell blood. Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, and Naz Reid need to own the glass and own the restricted area. Gobert should be living on lobs and put-backs. Randle has to punish mismatches without turning into a black hole. Naz has to keep doing what he\u2019s been doing in stretching the floor, forcing bigs to move, and making Memphis choose between protecting the rim and respecting the pop. This is a game where Minnesota can win with grown-man basketball if they actually commit to it.<\/p>\n
#3: Do the little things that stop a \u201cletdown game\u201d from turning into a crisis\u2014turnovers, free throws, and basic professionalism.
This is the annoying part, because it\u2019s the same lecture every time. But it\u2019s the truth: Minnesota\u2019s losses during this ugly stretch have been loaded with self-inflicted damage. Sloppy live-ball turnovers that turn into easy points. Missed free throws that turn into a tight fourth quarter you never should\u2019ve had to play. Possessions where the Wolves just\u2026 stop making the simple play. If you want to be a top seed, you don\u2019t live on the edge against undermanned teams because you can\u2019t complete the fundamentals. You bank these games by taking care of the ball and converting the freebies. Not glamorous, not fun, but it\u2019s how you stop the season from spiraling.<\/p>\n
#4: Keep the shooting quality high\u2014because the OKC flamethrower night only matters if you keep generating good looks when the percentages cool off.
Nobody should expect the Wolves to shoot like they did against OKC every night, especially with the schedule tightening and the legs getting heavier. But the key isn\u2019t \u201cmake every three.\u201d The key is \u201ctake the right threes.\u201d Thursday worked because the ball moved, the defense collapsed, and Minnesota got clean looks, shots that didn\u2019t require a miracle or a heat-check ego trip. Against Memphis, the Wolves can\u2019t fall back into the bad habit of hero-ball possessions that turn into contested jumpers with four guys watching. If the ball is hopping, Minnesota doesn\u2019t need a perfect shooting night. They just need a steady diet of good shots and the discipline to live with the results.<\/p>\n
#5: The Edwards-Randle tone-setting has to be consistent\u2014because this team follows their mood like it\u2019s a weather pattern.
Ant was phenomenal against OKC. He set the tone early, he controlled the emotional temperature, and he made it clear the game was going to be a battle. Randle had a rougher outing, and that\u2019s okay, everybody has those games. But now, against Memphis, he needs to get right in the exact way this Wolves team needs him: play physical, make quick decisions, facilitate when the doubles come, and punish when they don\u2019t. And Ant has to keep doing the thing that separates contenders from pretenders: bring the same edge when the opponent isn\u2019t glamorous. This team becomes whatever their two stars decide it\u2019s going to be. If they\u2019re locked in, everyone locks in. If they\u2019re casual, the whole thing gets casual.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s the real maturity test here.<\/p>\n
Thursday night was the kind of win that can change a season\u2019s emotional trajectory. It reminded everyone that Minnesota can absolutely beat the best team in the league when they\u2019re connected. But the NBA doesn\u2019t hand out trophies for \u201cbest single-game performance in late January.\u201d The league rewards consistency. And the Wolves are about to hit the 50-game mark, which is usually when you stop being what you think you are and start being what you actually are.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve proven they can flip the switch. That\u2019s real.<\/p>\n
Now comes the harder part: proving they can keep it on. Because when April and May arrive, there\u2019s no \u201cwe didn\u2019t feel like it tonight.\u201d There\u2019s no letdown spot. There\u2019s no hiding. If Minnesota wants to make a real run, if they want to get back to that third straight Western Conference Finals, if they want do something this franchise has never done and get to the last round, then games like this Memphis one can\u2019t be treated like chores.<\/p>\n
They have to be treated like steps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis GrizzliesDate: January 31st, 2026Time: 7:00 PM CSTLocation: FedEx ForumTelevision Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3785],"tags":[7,423,6,64153,422,427,3972],"class_list":{"0":"post-571790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-utah-jazz","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-jazz","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-timberwolves-game-discussion","12":"tag-utah","13":"tag-utah-jazz","14":"tag-utahjazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115986817622233715","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}