Wolves facing trio of annual East play-in teams on this week's road trip

The Timberwolves have a chance to pick up some road wins over middling teams this week.

Oct 16, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls forward/center Jalen Smith (25) defends Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half at United Center. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament might as well be called the Heat, Bulls, and Hawks invitational. Those three teams, who the Timberwolves will face on this week's road trip, seem to find themselves in the 7-10 spots in the East year after year after year.

The play-in tournament has been around for five years, and Atlanta has been a participant in each of the last four. Miami and Chicago have joined them in each of the last three. And this year, around 40 percent of the way into the season, all three are right in their usual spots.

2025-26 (through games on Dec. 28):

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2024-25:

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2023-24:

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2022-23:

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The only team in that trio to win a playoff series in the past three years is the Heat, who made a run from the play-in tourney to the NBA Finals in 2023. Otherwise, these teams either don't make it out of the play-in or get bounced in the first round. They aren't nearly good enough to contend for championships and they aren't nearly bad enough to land top draft picks. They're stuck in basketball purgatory.

Timberwolves' East road trip begins

The Wolves play in Chicago on Monday night, in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, and in Miami on Saturday, before wrapping up their four-game trip in Washington D.C. against a bad Wizards team on Sunday. Minnesota then has another game against Miami and two against Cleveland next week, meaning six of their next seven are against current East play-in teams.

Timberwolves' next seven games. | ESPN

Wolves at Bulls

Few teams in the NBA allow more points than the Bulls, who the Wolves will face on Monday. They're a truly mediocre team, but they're capable of putting up points in bunches and had just won five in a row before losing to the Bucks on Saturday. Josh Giddey, Nikola Vucevic, and potential Wolves trade target Coby White are the leading scorers for Chicago.

Wolves at Hawks

Wednesday's New Year's Eve matinee game in Atlanta will mark Anthony Edwards' sixth annual game in his home city. He and the Wolves are just 1-4 in their last five trips to the Peach State, but unless the Hawks upset the Thunder on Monday, they will have lost seven in a row coming into Wednesday's game.

Atlanta is led by Jalen Johnson (24/10/8 per game), Onyeka Okongwu, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who will play against his former team for the first time. Trae Young is back for the Hawks, but they're 1-8 when he plays at least 10 minutes and 14-10 when he's been out. Kristaps Porzingis is day-to-day with an illness.

Wolves at Heat

The Heat should probably be viewed a bit differently than the Bulls and Hawks, even if they always find themselves next to them in the standings. As mentioned, they've at least made a deep run out of the play-in tourney in the last few years. And this year, they're ninth in net rating, one spot behind the Wolves in eighth. The Heat have been without Tyler Herro for much of this season, but they have another All-Star caliber shooting guard in Norman Powell, who has shined in his first season with Miami. Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are among the other standouts for Erik Spoelstra.

All three of these teams are very much beatable for a contender like the Wolves, but all three games are also quite losable if Minnesota doesn't show up ready to go. Tacking on the Wizards game at the end, a 3-1 road trip would be a success for the Wolves, while 2-2 would be disappointing but not a complete disaster.

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