For all the talk of winning the Midwest Division title in order to win the first round of the playoffs in order to compete for an NBA championship, the Timberwolves this season must learn to master one thing first:
The second day of back-to-backs.

They'll get a trial run this weekend.

Coach Flip Saunders said tonight's exhibition game at Indiana followed by Saturday's exhibition at Milwaukee won't really simulate what the Wolves will face during the season, when they have 19 sets of games played within 24 hours of each other. That's because he plans to limit players' minutes tonight and Saturday in order to prevent injuries, meaning the normal starters probably won't be on the floor in the fourth quarter, with time winding down.

"(These games) are important for us in maybe being mentally being ready when the game starts, but the importance of what it's going to mean in the fourth quarter won't mean as much," he said.

Nevertheless, Saunders will take any amount of preparation his team can get, because as Wolves Vice President Kevin McHale put it so bluntly recently, "We were horrible on back-to-backs last year."