With the Minnesota Timberwolves battling for one of the final playoff positions in the Western Conference, they could really use a boost and it appears that boost could be on its way.

After tearing his meniscus near the end of February, the Wolves had hoped that Jimmy Butler would be back in time for the playoffs and with their next game happening on Thursday, it sure sounds like there is a good chance he could appear in that one.

The Wolves biggest struggles as of late have been on the defensive side of the court and they just don't seem to play good team defense.

With Butler, though, although the numbers aren't that much better, they seem to play more as a team and make plays when they count.

It's unclear when Butler returns if he will be eased back in, or if he will play over 30 minutes in his first game back but the Wolves will take whatever they can get with him.

The Timberwolves currently sit in the 7th position in the Western Conference with a record of 44-34. They only sit 1.5 games ahead of the Denver Nuggets though who sit in the 9th position in the standings, and they play on Thursday night.

For Butler, he was having a really good year before going down with the injury. In 56 games, he has averaged 22.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He is shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from deep.

If Butler isn' able to return for Thursday's game, the Wolves still need to treat that game like a must win and try to take one step closer to making the playoffs.