It won’t be Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Lakers, but all signs point to the Minnesota Timberwolves debuting their twin towers Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert on Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets.
Friday’s game at Target Center against the Nets is Minnesota’s final preseason game ahead of the regular season opener next Wednesday, Oct. 19 when the Wolves host the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“We’re confident they’re on track to play together in the preseason,” head coach Chris Finch said Tuesday.
One would also assume that the rest of the starters will be in the lineup Friday as it would be the last opportunity for a full dress rehearsal before the season begins. That would mean a starting lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Towns and Gobert.
Gobert will not play Wednesday against the Lakers. Towns will.
The Lakers, meanwhile, will likely role out a lineup that is closer to what they’ll go with in the regular season. That could mean Minnesota sees LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and Patrick Beverley. All four didn’t play when the Timberwolves beat them last Thursday in Las Vegas.
Minnesota started Russell, Edwards, McDaniels and Gobert against the Lakers, but Towns was still recovering from an illness that put him in the hospital before the start of training camp. Towns made his debut Friday night against the Clippers, but Gobert didn’t play, so the starting lineup was again one star shy of being complete.
Related: What the Timberwolves can glean from the NBA GM Survey
Related: No reason Timberwolves shouldn’t get off to a very fast start
