Heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are one of the most improved teams in the league. With two rising stars in Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves traded for Jimmy Butler and signed Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford.

While it will take time for the Timberwolves to come together, there are high expectations not only to end their 13-year playoff drought but make a deep run. In the second game against the Golden State Warriors in China, they lost 142-110 and head coach Tom Thibodeau had a message to his team according to Sam Amick of USA Today:

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In just his second season as head coach, Thibodeau is trying to establish a winning culture. After losing by 32 points to the defending champions, the Timberwolves will likely face them in the playoffs and it was important to send a message even in preseason.

As the Timberwolves prepare for their season opener against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 18, it will be interesting to see how they respond to this early adversity. While the Timberwolves have one of the more talented rosters on paper, they will need to prove they are contenders in the competitive Western Conference.