Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis Grizzlies
Date: March 3rd, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM CST
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network – North
Radio Coverage: Wolves App, iHeart Radio<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a very specific kind of confidence that creeps in when you beat the Denver Nuggets on national television. It\u2019s the \u201cwe\u2019re back\u201d confidence. And right now, the Minnesota Timberwolves are flirting with that version of themselves.<\/p>\n
Six wins in their last seven. A convincing Sunday afternoon win over Jokic and the Nuggets. A leapfrog in the standings. Suddenly they\u2019re sitting tied for the third best record in the West, staring at the Houston Rockets, and licking their chops.<\/p>\n
It feels good. It should feel good.<\/p>\n
But before we start fantasizing home court in Round 1, let\u2019s take a healthy dose of reality. The margin for error in the West is still razor thin. The Wolves have momentum, but they haven\u2019t exactly looked like world-beaters during this stretch. They\u2019ve won games that should\u2019ve been comfortable by making them unnecessarily dramatic. They\u2019ve flirted with disaster against inferior opponents and needed fourth-quarter gear shifts to survive.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to this week\u2019s three-game homestand: Memphis. Toronto. Orlando.<\/p>\n
On paper? Bankable wins. In reality? Potential landmines.<\/p>\n
Because the Wolves don\u2019t have a \u201ctalent\u201d problem. They have a \u201cprofessional urgency on random Tuesday nights\u201d problem. Which makes this Memphis Grizzlies team one of the most dangerous opponents they could face\u2026<\/p>\n
The Setup: The Games You Have to Bank<\/p>\n
March is a gauntlet. After this homestand, Minnesota heads west to face both L.A. teams, Golden State, and then south for the fourth and final showdown with OKC. That\u2019s not a sightseeing tour. That\u2019s a standings reshuffle waiting to happen.<\/p>\n
So if the Wolves want that three-seed, if they want home court in Round 1, if they want to avoid staring down OKC in the second round like it\u2019s a dentist appointment, they have to stack the games that are sitting right in front of them.<\/p>\n
Memphis is one of those. And before you (or the Wolves) begin to mentally add a digit to the win column, stop and remember that these Grizzlies have already beaten Minnesota twice this season. The most recent upset was at the start of February in one of those games where the Wolves assumed they could flip the switch late, only to realize the power had been disconnected.<\/p>\n
When we get to April and we\u2019re recapping the \u201cwhat could have been\u201d portion of the season, those Memphis losses are going to glow in neon. This is a team Minnesota has a clear talent advantage over. And yet, lack of intensity and professionalism already put two notches in the loss column.<\/p>\n
They cannot afford a third.<\/p>\n
#1: Take This Personally (And Take It Seriously)<\/p>\n
The Grizzlies punched Minnesota in the mouth twice. Both times, the Wolves walked in thinking it was a formality. That can\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n
This needs to be one of those games where the Wolves remember the taste of blood. Where they come out like they\u2019ve had this date circled since February 2nd. Where they don\u2019t \u201cfeel it out\u201d for a quarter and a half.<\/p>\n
Jump on them early. Crank the defensive aggression up immediately. Dive for loose balls. Sprint in transition. End defensive possessions with rebounds. Make Memphis feel like they wandered into the wrong building.<\/p>\n
Because if you let them hang around, if you let this become a fourth-quarter coin flip, you\u2019re inviting d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n
And Wolves fans have had enough d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu this season to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n
Memphis has pivoted away from the core that knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs in 2022. Jaren Jackson Jr. is gone, shipped to Utah at the deadline. Desmond Bane was jettisoned before the season. The identity that once made Memphis dangerous has been dismantled piece by piece. Ja Morant is still there, only because nobody else was eager to take on that particular roller coaster. This is not the same Grizzlies team that one appeared to be the next great Western Conference contender.<\/p>\n
But Ty Jerome? He\u2019s real. He already proved a month ago that he can hang with Minnesota and put enough points on the board to steal the game. And if you let him get comfortable, he\u2019ll start doing that annoying thing where role players turn into All-NBA guys for a night.<\/p>\n
Anthony Edwards. Ayo Dosunmu. Jalen Clark. Donte DiVincenzo. They all need to take turns sitting in Jerome\u2019s jersey.<\/p>\n
#3: Keep Jaden McDaniels Unlocked<\/p>\n
Jaden McDaniels is the Wolves\u2019 secret ingredient. When he\u2019s passive, the Wolves are good. When he\u2019s aggressive, they\u2019re terrifying. We saw it against Denver. McDaniels attacking downhill, finishing at the rim, getting high-percentage looks. He tilted the floor.<\/p>\n
The Wolves need to treat the next six weeks as a referendum on fully integrating McDaniels as a third pillar of this offense. Not an afterthought. Not a \u201cstand in the corner and wait\u201d guy.<\/p>\n
If this team heads into the postseason as a legitimate three-headed monster of Ant, Randle, and McDaniels, that\u2019s a completely different ceiling. Minnesota needs to be done with six-point Jaden games. Finch and the staff need to scheme him into action early. Get him touches. Get him downhill. Let him feel the game.<\/p>\n
One of the more encouraging trends from Sunday? Edwards passing out of doubles. He didn\u2019t force it against Denver. He trusted the read. He let teammates cook. That\u2019s when Minnesota\u2019s offense feels like a five-lane highway instead of a one-man street.<\/p>\n
Memphis probably won\u2019t double Ant the way Denver did. But the philosophy has to stay the same: Share it. Swing it. Keep the defense honest.<\/p>\n
There is zero reason for this to devolve into iso-heavy, dribble-the-air-out-of-the-ball basketball. The Wolves are far more dangerous when the ball is whipping around the perimeter and the defense is chasing shadows. This is not a \u201cprove you\u2019re the best player in the building\u201d game. It\u2019s a \u201cprove you\u2019re the most professional team in the building\u201d game.<\/p>\n
#5: Defend the Perimeter Like It\u2019s a Playoff Game<\/p>\n
The only way Memphis stays alive here is if Minnesota gifts them space with lazy rotations, turnstile perimeter defense., and wide-open threes because someone didn\u2019t feel like tagging the shooter.<\/p>\n
If Memphis earns tough buckets, fine, but don\u2019t be the reason they get easy ones. Close out hard. Contain at the point of attack. Rotate with purpose. Make it feel suffocating.<\/p>\n
This should be a blowout win. Honestly? Anything less is unacceptable.<\/p>\n
The Big Picture: Climb the Ladder, One Rung at a Time<\/p>\n
The Wolves did the hard part Sunday.<\/p>\n
They beat Denver. They flipped the script. They vaulted in the standings. It was a statement win.<\/p>\n
But statement wins only matter if you don\u2019t step on a rake 48 hours later.<\/p>\n
The dog days of January and February are behind us. The postseason is visible on the horizon. Now it\u2019s about stacking wins. Banking games you\u2019re supposed to win. Turning momentum into separation.<\/p>\n
You want the three-seed? You want home court? You want the opposite side of OKC? Then treat Memphis like what they are right now: a stepping stone.<\/p>\n
No coasting. No \u201cwe\u2019ll turn it on later.\u201d No letting inferior teams dictate terms.<\/p>\n
Keep climbing, one rung at a time.<\/p>\n
Memphis is the next grip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Timberwolves at Memphis GrizzliesDate: March 3rd, 2026Time: 7:00 PM CSTLocation: Target CenterTelevision Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network –…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3782],"tags":[7,307,152,3954,6,308,64153],"class_list":{"0":"post-635703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-timberwolves","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-timberwolves","11":"tag-minnesotatimberwolves","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-timberwolves","14":"tag-timberwolves-game-discussion"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635703","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=635703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}