Minnesota Timberwolves at Miam Heat
Date: January 3, 2026
Time: 4:00 p.m. CST
Location: Cash center
Television coverage: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports Network – North
Radio coverage: Wolves app, iHeart Radio
For the Minnesota Timberwolves, 2025 will be remembered as year of moaning.
Whenever the opportunity presented itself to end on a high note, the team chose to exit through the side door.
The Target Center finale against Brooklyn was a no-show, a lifeless performance that featured almost no defensive effort and even less pride. The New Year’s Day game in Atlanta followed the same script with atrocious defense, soft rebounding, stagnant offense and a collective shrug where urgency should have lived. And these two matches were not anomalies. They were exactly the same way Minnesota ended its Western Conference final against Oklahoma City: not with a fight, not with determination, but by letting their doors blow down.
As Master Yoda would say: Closers, the Timberwolves of 2025 were not.
The calendar now flips to 2026, and with that comes a chance to achieve something this team desperately needs: a new narrative. A country where defense matters again. Where rebound is non-negotiable. Where the offense doesn’t live and die by threes like it’s playing roulette with the season.
But the first warning signs are strong.
The Wolves once built their identity around a defense anchored by Rudy Gobert. Not long ago, this was a group that prided itself on holding opponents to fewer than 100, on making every possession miserable, on winning games as much through will as skill. That version of that team is gone. Brooklyn got to the rim at will despite Minnesota’s size advantage. Chicago was doing the same until injuries to Coby White and Josh Giddey brought the Bulls’ offense to its knees and gave the Wolves the illusion of competence. Then Atlanta completely torched them, outrunning defenders on the perimeter, finishing at the rim uncontested. Julius Randle, meanwhile, impersonated a turnstile, constantly getting beaten by his man. And when Atlanta failed? The Wolves politely gave them another good. And then another, treat rebound as a suggestion rather than a responsibility
Offensively, the Wolves weren’t great against the Hawks, but at this point, that almost doesn’t matter. With such a mediocre defense, Minnesota could average 130 a night and still find ways to lose.
Which brings us to the 2026 opener in South Beach and a team that suddenly finds itself at a crossroads.
The keys to the game against Miami
1. Protect the border like it’s the Declaration of Independence
The Wolves need to start treating the rim like Nicolas Cage in National treasure. Or if you don’t like that analogy, how about Kevin Costner in The bodyguardthrowing his body under the bullets. Regardless of which leading man of the 1990s they choose to channel, Minnesota must do whatever it takes to protect the paint.
It starts on the perimeter. Minnesota’s wings have gotten into the bad habit of blowing themselves out and hoping Rudy Gobert cleans up. This can’t be the plan. The first line of defense must hold. And when opponents reach the paint, Rudy, Julius and Naz must become the last line of punishment by intimidating, contesting and making every drive costly.
Rudy can no longer be the only adult in the room. It must be collective.
2. Don’t let Tyler Herro become the next “that guy”
The Wolves have turned letting an opposing player go nuclear into an art form. Cam Thomas. Jalen Johnson. Nikola Jokic’s 56-point Christmas thesis. Tyler Herro could be next in line if Minnesota doesn’t take him seriously.
Herro should return, and that’s where discipline counts. Difficult fences. Clean help. No casual switches. No wide open threes. If Herro gets comfortable, Miami quickly becomes dangerous.
3. Move the ball or die trying
What happened in Atlanta was offensive stagnation. With his teammates sleepwalking, Ant tried to drag the Wolves to the finish line, which led to the hero ball, which caused his teammates to watch him cook. This is not sustainable basketball.
The Wolves are at their best when the ball is moving. When the defense moves. When the open man is found, and the shot is taken without hesitation. The three-point shooting has been extremely inconsistent as of late, but it’s improving when the offense flows instead of freezing.
4. Julius Randle needs to find himself
Early in the season, especially when Anthony Edwards was injured, Randle was the anchor. Triple-double. Smart intimidation ball. High efficiency rating. Playing. Direction.
This version of Randle is gone. Outside of a monster fourth quarter against the Knicks, he’s been an afterthought. And as the second best player on this list, that can’t continue.
If the Wolves want to turn things around, Randle must rediscover this version of himself from the start of the season: physical, focused, efficient, committed on both sides. He sets the tone. When Julius plays well, the whole team stabilizes.
This is the one that counts.
Christmas Day: Minnesota failed against a team that was missing half its starters before flipping the switch late.
Brooklyn: a total embarrassment.
Chicago: Lifeless until injuries save them.
Atlanta: the last turd in the holiday punch bowl.
This is not good basketball.
This is not confident basketball.
This isn’t Minnesota Timberwolves basketball…
Now they open the year with five very winnable games: two against Miami, two against Cleveland, one against Washington, before a major confrontation in the West with San Antonio.
This section constitutes the turning point of the season.
Continue to sleepwalk and the Wolves will dig a hole in a Western Conference that offers no mercy. Lock yourself away and they give themselves a chance to rediscover who they were meant to be.
The real question of 2026
Will the Wolves be able to find their backbone?
Can they reconnect with the identity that made them dangerous: defense, physique, collective effort, pride? Can Chris Finch and his staff get this team back on the same page before the rankings get tougher and the margin disappears?
Because the truth is brutal and simple: this team is far too talented to play like that.
Whether this is a reset…or the start of a longer slide…is up to the Wolves.
