The Timberwolves have had some of the toughest luck in the NBA.
Since joining the NBA as an expansion team in 1989, Minnesota has struggled mightily in the playoffs. However, when they’ve had success, the Timberwolves have been able to make deep playoff runs thanks to its star players.
Minnesota’s first taste of success came with Kevin Garnett, as the hall-of-fame forward helped lead the team to new heights. Over 15 years later, Minnesota drafted Anthony Edwards, who’s been the franchise player the team has needed since trading Garnett to the Celtics.
However, despite those star players, the Timberwolves haven’t had many signature moments in the NBA playoffs. Here’s a breakdown of how the Timberwolves have fared in the postseason thus far.
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Have the Timberwolves won an NBA championship?
Since entering the NBA in 1989, the Timberwolves have not won an NBA championship. They are one of 10 teams who haven’t reached the league’s mountaintop since the NBA-ABA merger before the 1976-77 season.
When was the last time the Timberwolves played in the NBA Finals?
The Timberwolves have never played in the NBA Finals, as they are 0-2 all-time in the Western Conference Finals. That makes them one of five teams to never make the NBA Finals.
Minnesota’s first chance to make the Finals came in 2004, when the Kevin Garnett-led Timberwolves lost to the Lakers in six games during the conference finals. That year, Minnesota had 58 wins, the most in the organization’s history, and earned the No. 1 seed in the West. However, they faced a tough Los Angeles team in the conference finals, and the Lakers’ championship experience proved too much for the inexperience Timberwolves.
Twenty years later, Minnesota returned to the conference finals to play the Mavericks in 2024, but lost in five games as Luka Doncic led Dallas to the NBA Finals. The Timberwolves had just defeated the defending-champion Nuggets in seven games and hosted the Western Conference Finals, but Dallas’ firepower proved too much for a Minnesota team that worked hard to beat Denver.
Entering the 2025 playoffs, Minnesota only won three conference finals games, compared to eight losses, and haven’t even played a potential clinching game in either series.
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Timberwolves playoff history
Since their inception in 1989, the Timberwolves have struggled to even make it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, as they only won a playoff series in one of their first 34 seasons. That came in the 2003-04 season, when Minnesota had the most wins in the Western Conference and met the Lakers in the Conference Finals.
Here is a look at the Timberwolves playoff history since joining the NBA.
| Year | Playoff result |
| 2023-24 | Loss, Western Conference Finals |
| 2022-23 | Loss, First Round |
| 2021-22 | Loss, First Round |
| 2017-18 | Lost, First Round |
| 2003-04 | Loss, Western Conference Finals |
| 2002-03 | Loss, First Round |
| 2001-02 | Loss, First Round |
| 2000-01 | Loss, First Round |
| 1999-00 | Loss, First Round |
| 1998-99 | Loss, First Round |
| 1997-98 | Loss, First Round |
| 1996-97 | Loss, First Round |
