Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid Return as Timberwolves Begin Critical Road Trip

Coming off their most lopsided loss of the season on Sunday night in Minneapolis, the 35-23 Timberwolves will be back to full strength when they begin an important three-game road trip on Tuesday night in Portland. Rudy Gobert's second one-game suspension has ended, and Naz Reid (shoulder) is also good to go after a one-game absence.

That's great news for the Wolves, because this is a big road trip that could tell us a lot about what kind of team they are. The Western Conference standings are bunched together so tightly that Minnesota could be anywhere from the No. 3 seed to the No. 7 seed when it returns to Target Center next week.

The trip begins on Tuesday (9 p.m. CT, Peacock) against a 28-30 Trail Blazers team that is ninth in the West but cannot be taken too lightly. Portland has won five of its last seven and is 16-11 since December 26. They'll be motivated after losing by 24 to the Wolves — who got 41 points from Julius Randle in that game — in Minneapolis a couple weeks ago.

The good news for Minnesota is that Portland's two leading scorers, Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe, are out due to injury. But the Timberwolves will still have to contend with Jrue Holiday, Donovan Clingan, Jerami Grant, and other capable pieces. Even with no Avdija or Sharpe, the Wolves won't be able to show up and simply cruise to a win if they aren't dialed in.

Ayo Dosunmu | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

After tonight's game, the difficulty ramps up. On Thursday night (9 p.m. CT, Prime Video), the Wolves will take on Kawhi Leonard and the 10th-seeded Clippers. Even more so than with Portland, the 27-30 record doesn't tell the story of how well the Clippers are currently playing. They've gone 21-9 to get back into the postseason mix after a shockingly awful start. LAC demolished the Wolves in Minneapolis a couple weeks ago and has also beaten the Nuggets and Rockets this month. Leonard had 41 points in the most recent meeting between these teams.

And to cap off the trip, the Wolves will take on the Nuggets in a matinee game on Sunday (2:30 p.m. CT, ABC). It's the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the two rivals. Minnesota has gone 0-3 against Denver this season, most recently losing an overtime thriller on Christmas Day. Anthony Edwards dropped 44 points in that game...but Nikola Jokic went for 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists. At 36-22, the Nuggets are currently one game ahead of the Timberwolves, so the seeding implications there will be big (even if Denver has already secured the tiebreaker).

The Wolves are 15-12 away from home this season. A 2-1 trip would definitely be a success, and that would be a lot harder to pull off with a loss in Portland this evening.

"We've been a good road team," head coach Chris Finch said on KFAN on Monday. "Clippers, we've got a score to settle with them. They came in here a couple weeks ago, right before the break, and laid it on us. They're playing really good basketball. Portland's always been a really tough place to play. ... And then we know Denver, how good they are, and they've beaten us three times this season. We got a lot of challenges in front of us. I'm really looking forward to this road trip just because I think it's a great litmus test for where we are in the season."