The Minnesota Timberwolves will tip off their 20th regular season in the National Basketball Association by hosting the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at Target Center at 7 p.m. (CST).

The home portion of the Timberwolves schedule features 23 weekend dates (8 - Friday, 9 - Saturday, 6 - Sunday). The home schedule also includes 11 Wednesday, five Tuesday and two Monday games. The Wolves longest homestands this season are a pair of four-game affairs (Feb. 25-Mar. 3 and Mar. 9-14). The Wolves will not play more than three consecutive road games this season, with three-game trips scheduled on five different occasions.

Highlights of the home portion of the Timberwolves’ schedule include the following: the lone visits of the season by the World Champion Boston Celtics (Nov. 21) and LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers (Dec. 17); two appearances by the Western Conference Champion L.A. Lakers (Jan. 30 and Feb. 22); and two games with the Western Conference Finalist San Antonio Spurs (Nov. 5 and Dec. 12). MVP runner-up Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets will visit Target Center just once this season on Jan. 23.

The Wolves will play Northwest Division opponents four times each (two home games/two road games), conference opponents outside the division three or four times each and Eastern Conference foes twice (once at home and once on the road). This year, the L.A. Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets and Phoenix Suns are the four Western Conference opponents the Wolves play just three times.

Minnesota’s 2008-09 local television broadcast schedule will be released at a later date, as will the date single-game home tickets go on sale. Following are key facts regarding the Wolves 2008-09 regular-season schedule, as well as a copy of the schedule with dates and starting times.

Key Facts About the Timberwolves 2008-09 Schedule
By month, the schedule breaks down as follows: October (1 home, 0 away = 1 total), November (7 home, 7 away = 14 total), December (7 home, 9 away = 16 total), January (8 home, 6 away = 14 total), February (6 home, 7 away = 13 total), March (9 home, 8 away = 17 total), April (3 home, 4 away = 7 total).
By day, the schedule breaks down as follows: Monday (2 home, 6 away = 8 total), Tuesday (5 home, 10 away = 15 total), Wednesday (11 home, 6 away = 17 total), Thursday (0 home, 0 away = 0 total), Friday (8 home, 9 away = 17 total), Saturday (9 home, 4 away = 13 total), Sunday (6 home, 6 away = 12 total).
The Wolves enjoy two four-game homestands (Feb. 25-March 3, March 9-14) and one three-game homestand (Jan. 7-13).
Minnesota embarks on five road trips of three games in length: Nov. 7-11 (SAC, POR, GS); Dec. 1-5 (CHA, ORL, NJ); Jan. 16-20 (PHX, LAC, UTA); Mar. 17-20 (SA, NO, HOU); Mar. 23-27 (ATL, PHI, CLE).
Of the 21 sets of back-to-back games, one is of the home-home variety, eight are away-away, six are home-away and six are away-home. Last season, the Wolves also had 21 sets of back-to-back contests.
The Wolves will open the regular-season slate versus Sacramento on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at Target Center, marking the eighth straight season the club has opened at home, following three consecutive campaigns the team had started the season on the road. The Wolves are 11-8 in season openers, including 9-2 in season openers at home. Minnesota opened the 2007-08 campaign with a 99-91 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Timberwolves 2008-09 Opponent Breakdown
Northwest Division
Denver (H: 11/29, 4/5; A: 11/16, 12/10); Oklahoma City (H: 1/7, 3/22; A: 11/2, 11/28); Portland (H: 11/15, 2/27; A: 11/8, 3/7); Utah: (H: 12/9, 2/25; A: 1/20, 4/3).

Pacific Division
Golden State (H: 1/2, 3/3; A: 11/11, 4/8); L.A. Clippers (H: 12/6; A: 1/19, 4/7); L.A. Lakers (H: 1/30, 2/22; A: 12/14, 3/6); Phoenix (H: 11/26, 4/11; A: 1/16); Sacramento (H: 10/29, 4/15; A: 11/7, 12/15).

Southwest Division
Dallas (H: 11/1, 3/31; A: 12/30, 4/13); Houston (H: 12/20, 3/1; A: 2/7, 3/20); Memphis (H: 12/29, 3/11; A: 1/6); New Orleans (H: 1/23; A: 2/8, 3/18); San Antonio (H: 11/5, 12/12; A: 12/23, 3/17).

Atlantic Division
Boston (H: 11/21; A: 2/1); New Jersey (H: 3/29; A: 12/5); New York (H: 3/13; A: 12/26); Philadelphia (H: 11/19; A: 3/25); Toronto (H: 2/10; A: 2/24).

Central Division
Chicago (H: 1/25; A: 1/3); Cleveland (H: 12/17; A: 3/27); Detroit (H: 1/28; A: 11/23); Indiana (H: 2/20; A: 2/3); Milwaukee (H: 1/10; A: 1/26).

Southeast Division
Atlanta (H: 2/4; A: 3/23); Charlotte (H: 3/14; A: 12/1); Miami (H: 1/13; A: 2/18); Orlando (H: 12/27; A: 12/3); Washington (H: 3/9; A: 2/17).