The Wolves in the playoffs? Excitement builds

Minnesota Timberwolves fans will get to experience something rare over the next six weeks: A playoff push.

What's happening: The Wolves return Thursday night from the All-Star break with a record of 31-28, which is seventh best in the Western Conference.

• If they stay in that position, they'll earn a spot in the play-in tournament and would need to win one out of two games to secure a spot in the playoffs.
• But if they move up to the sixth position, they would bypass the play-in tournament and likely avoid a first-round matchup with the two Western Conference powerhouses, Golden State and Phoenix.

Flashback: The Wolves have made the playoffs just once in the past 17 seasons, back in 2018.

Yes, but: This team is much more entertaining than the 2017-2018 team.

• Karl-Anthony Towns is playing some of the best basketball of his career, Anthony Edwards is becoming a star and role players like Jaden McDaniels, Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley have been fantastic.

What to watch: The Wolves play Memphis at Target Center Thursday at 7pm.