Timberwolves at Hornets: Everything You Need to Know – Injury Updates, Start Time, TV, Stream & Radio Info
Playing on the second night of a back-to-back, the Minnesota Timberwolves will look to pick up their third straight win when they head to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Wednesday.
The Wolves are coming off a 126-112 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. Naz Reid led Minnesota with 23 points, while Anthony Edwards contributed 18. Julius Randle finished with 16 points in his second game back from injury, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker provided a spark off the bench with 20 points.
Seventh in the West, Minnesota (34-29) is 4-6 in their last 10 games and 17-15 on the road this season. The Wolves rank sixth in the league on defense with a 110.6 defensive rating and 12th on offense with a 113.8 offensive rating.
Wednesday’s game will be the second and final matchup between Charlotte and Minnesota this season. Early in the season, the Wolves won the first matchup in Minnesota 114-93 on Nov. 4.
Here’s everything you need to know about Wolves at Hornets on Wednesday, including injury updates, start time, TV channel, live stream details and radio broadcast options.
Wolves at Hornets tips off at 6 PM on Wednesday, March 5, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The game will be broadcast and streamed on FanDuel Sports Network, with Michael Grady and Jim Petersen on the call.
You can listen to Alan Horton, the radio voice of the Timberwolves, call the game on iHeartRadio’s Timberwolves channel and the Timberwolves app. The Timberwolves’ radio broadcast will start 15 minutes before tip.
Note: Tonight’s injury report will be updated before the start of the game.
Timberwolves
Mike Conley (Rest) and Rudy Gobert (Low Back Injury Maintenance) are out.
Hornets
Taj Gibson (Illness) and Jusuf Nurkic (Low Back Tightness) are listed as probable. Brandon Miller (Right Wrist Ligament Repair), Josh Okogie (Left Hamstring Strain), Grant Williams (Right ACL Repair) and Tre Mann (Disc Herniation) are out.
The Wolves will take the court in their shadow gray Statement Edition uniforms against the Hornets, who will be wearing their teal Icon Edition uniforms.
14th in the East and currently on a seven-game losing streak, Charlotte (14-46) is 1-9 in their last 10 games and has a 9-22 record at home this season.
The Hornets rank 16th on defense with 113.9 defensive rating and are 29th on offense with a 106.2 offensive rating.
Charlotte’s expected rotation includes Miles Bridges, Josh Green, Mark Williams, LaMelo Ball, Nick Smith Jr., Damion Baugh, DaQuan Jeffries, Tidjane Salaun and Seth Curry.
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The Wolves spread around the scoring, getting 29 points each from Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels and 25 more from Julius Randle.
By Chris Hine
CHARLOTTE – Earlier this season, when the Timberwolves were struggling through the first half of their season, Julius Randle was trying to find his best fit with the team while Jaden McDaniels was struggling to see the ball go through the hoop.
Wednesday’s 125-110 win over Charlotte was an example of how far both have come since the beginning of the season.
Through the rash of injuries the Wolves endured since the calendar turned to 2025, McDaniels regained his scoring touch, and he was again prolific with 29 points, one short of his career high. Randle came up just short of his first triple-double with the Wolves with 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He was scoring when needed and playmaking the rest of the night.
The Wolves have won three consecutive and will play Friday in Miami. Anthony Edwards had 29 points, and LaMelo Ball had 28 for Charlotte.
Despite potentially tired legs while playing their fifth game in seven nights in their fourth different time zone, the Wolves pushed the pace offensively in the first quarter, and it worked. McDaniels and Naz Reid got easy buckets attacking the rim before the Hornets were set multiple times. That allowed time for Edwards to heat up.
After missing his first few shots, Edwards finished with 10 points in the quarter, while Reid and McDaniels each had 12. The Wolves led 39-28 thanks to a 14-9 rebounding edge. That gave them eight second-chance points.
The Wolves trailed early, but a 20-5 burst pushed their lead into double digits.
With Mike Conley out to rest, rookie Rob Dillingham re-entered the rotation after being out of it the past two games. He played the kind of shift coach Chris Finch likely wants to see out of him moving forward. Despite his ability to be a microwave scorer, Dillingham was looking to set up teammates first before looking for his own shot. He flashed some good chemistry with Randle, who had seven points in their time on the floor together. Dillingham then hit his only shot of the half, a three-pointer from the right wing.
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TWIN CITIES
BOXSCORE: Wolves 125, Hornets 110
NBA standings
The Wolves forced eight Charlotte turnovers in the second quarter, with Jaylen Clark having a hand in several of those. He was credited with two steals but also deflected other passes. The Hornets stayed in it because the Wolves committed eight fouls and Charlotte shot 49% when not turning it over. The Wovles led 65-58 at the half.
Coming out of the locker room, McDaniels had a quarter similar to the first, taking advantage of the attention Edwards and Randle were drawing. He led the Wolves with 11 points and nearly matched his career high of 30 with 27 by the end of the third. His good shooting helped the Wolves push the lead back into double digits, and it reached as much as 29 late in the quarter before the Wolves led 97-83 entering the fourth.
They put it away early with a sequence that belongs on a highlight reel with one they had against the Suns on Sunday. Randle missed a free throw, but McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker fought for it, with Alexander-Walker saving it while falling out of bounds. The ball went to DiVincenzo, who buried a three for a 107-85 Wolves lead with 9:30 remaining, and got the bench off its feet.
Chris Hine is the Timberwolves reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune.
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Minnesota spread around the scoring, getting 29 points each from Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels and 25 more from Julius Randle.
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Game Preview #64 – Timberwolves at Hornets
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The Wolves roll into Charlotte for the second night of a back-to-back. Can Minnesota avoid overconfidence and notch a critical win as they look to rise up the Western Conference standings?
Minnesota Timberwolves @ Charlotte Hornets
Date: March 5th, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM CST
Location: Spectrum Center
Television Coverage: FanDuel Sports Network North
Radio Coverage: Wolves App/iHeart Radio
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The Wolves find themselves in the second night of a back-to-back, heading into Charlotte after what hopefully was a straightforward win over a shorthanded Sixers squad on Tuesday night. I have a flight to catch during the time I’d normally be writing this preview, so I’m turning in my home work early, before the Sixers game even tips off. If the Wolves didn’t take care of business against an Embiid and Maxey-less Philly, well, then we’ve got bigger problems.
Tonight’s opponent, the Charlotte Hornets, are bad. Not just “rebuilding team” bad. Truly unwatchable, actively tanking, “how did we get here?” bad. They’ve lost seven straight and 18 of their last 21 games. I don’t even know what they’re trying to accomplish this season. It’s like if a team was specifically engineered in a lab to win 21 games, secure a top-three lottery pick, and ruin your Wednesday night parlay by randomly beating a contender for no reason in early March.
And that’s what scares me about this game if I’m a Wolves fan.
Let’s be real. The Wolves have played up to the best teams in the league—they’ve beaten the Lakers, Nuggets, and Thunder and took the Celtics and Grizzlies down to the wire. But they’ve also managed to play down to some truly horrific teams and dropped games that should’ve been free wins.
Remember the Wizards game?
The Blazers losses?
The time Toronto looked like 2019 Kawhi-era Toronto?
The recipe for disaster here is simple:
And suddenly, you’re waking up Thursday morning wondering how Miles Bridges just put up 23 and 12 on you while LaMelo hits a dagger three in transition.
The Wolves cannot let that happen. They’ve dropped too many winnable games already and need every single win to avoid the Western Conference play-in nightmare.
This should be a first-quarter knockout.
Charlotte has zero rim protection and one true offensive weapon in LaMelo Ball. If the Wolves play high-energy defense and get out in transition, this game could be over before halftime.
Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Jaylen Clark need to be all over LaMelo from the jump. Make him uncomfortable, force bad shots, and let the rest of Charlotte’s roster prove they can beat you. Spoiler: they can’t.
And offensively? Get the ball moving, get easy buckets inside, and build a lead early.
When the Wolves are at their best, they move the ball and play unselfish basketball. When they’re at their worst, it’s a lot of isolation, forced shots, and hero ball.
Anthony Edwards can score 40 on anyone, but that doesn’t mean he needs to take 40 shots and impersonate Steph Curry against Seth Curry. If the Hornets collapse on him, he needs to trust his teammates, make the right pass, and keep the offense flowing.
Donte DiVincenzo should be feasting on wide-open looks. Julius Randle should be getting easy buckets in the post. Naz Reid should be torching whichever Hornets big man attempts to guard him.
Just don’t overcomplicate it.
LaMelo is the only reason the Hornets even sell tickets at this point. He’s averaging 26.1 PPG, and while his efficiency can be all over the place, when he gets hot, he can single-handedly keep Charlotte in games.
The Wolves have a stable of defenders to throw at him. McDaniels, Alexander-Walker, Clark, and even Edwards should be hounding him from the opening tip.
Let’s be real—Anthony Edwards vs. LaMelo Ball debate was settled a long time ago. One guy is a superstar, the other is a YouTube mixtape legend who hasn’t played a meaningful game in three years.
But Ant still needs to go out there and remove all doubt.
A high-efficiency, 30-point night from him should be all it takes to put this game away.
As for Julius Randle, he’s been much better about not forcing bad shots and playing within the offense. That needs to continue. The Hornets can’t handle his physicality in the paint, so he needs to pick his spots, attack when needed, and keep the ball moving.
And for the love of God, please don’t take 10 threes.
This is a must-win game. Period.
The Wolves absolutely cannot afford to lose this one. Not after what happened in Utah. Not with the standings this tight. Not with a real chance to go on a run and get to the 6-seed.
The Hornets are already on vacation mode. They’re counting the days until the draft lottery.
Minnesota needs to show up, handle business, and get out of Charlotte with a win.
No playing down to competition. No letting LaMelo cook. No second-half collapses. Just get it done.
Because if we wake up Thursday morning to another “Wolves lose to terrible team” headline, I don’t even know what I’ll do anymore.
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