For the fourth straight season, the Timberwolves have punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs, and after a run to the Western Conference Finals last year, expectations should be high.

During the 2024 playoffs, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks faced Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals. The 4-1 series saw the Slovenian star average 32.4 points on 47.3 percent shooting from the field and 43.4 percent from the 3-point line.

But the Lakers securing the third seed gives Doncic the best positioning he's ever had going into the playoffs. In six years with the Mavericks, his team only held homecourt advantage once in 2022 against the Utah Jazz when the Mavs were the 4th seed, but he was hurt for most of that series.