The Minnesota Timberwolves have flipped a switch since the start of 2026, going 6-1 and positioning themselves as the fourth seed in the Western Conference heading into Wednesday's NBA slate. Their most impressive win this season so far came on Tuesday, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks without Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards.

It wasn't just a regular win either, as the Timberwolves blew them out by 33 points, never giving the Bucks a lead and being up by as many as 41 points. While Julius Randle led the team in scoring with 29, Bones Hyland wasn't far behind with 23 for himself off the bench. Boasting a team-high +41 plus-minus, Hyland certainly came to play on Tuesday night.

After the game, Hyland spoke to reporters and revealed the team's mentality heading into the contest with Gobert and Edwards.

"Honestly, next man up, we know we've got such a great group of guys that's versatile, that can light it up on any given night," Hyland said. "Anybody can have it going. So, it was no doubt in our minds; we knew coming into this game, just keep our pace up, share the ball, and that was displayed this night throughout the whole game."

The Timberwolves got contributions all across the board, with Donte DiVincenzo being the lead playmaker with seven assists, while Naz Reid filled in for Gobert in the starting lineup with an efficient 19 points, not missing a shot from inside the arc.

The biggest surprise was 17th overall pick Joan Beringer, who earned the praise of head coach Chris Finch for his 13-point, five-rebound performance in 30 minutes of action.

"We're hard to stop, man. And we got resilience in us. When things are tough, we dig in. When things are going good for us, we still dig in; it don't matter," he added.

Through seven games in 2026, the Timberwolves are averaging 128 points per game and allowing just 114.4 points per game. With nearly a 14-point differential, that ranks higher than the Oklahoma City Thunder are on the season average of 13.2.

This time last year, the Timberwolves were 21-19, sitting eighth in the Western Conference. From there on out, they'd finish the season 49-33, going 28-14 the rest of the way. It's not how you start, but how you finish, and with some adjustments to the team this season, it seems as though the coaching staff and the players are starting to adjust.

Of course, a lot of their ability to maintain this comes down to health, but Anthony Edwards is the only one of their starters who has missed much time at all, with the rest all making at least 39 starts through 41 games.

The Western Conference is also the toughest it's been in a long time, so the best option for the Timberwolves to continue producing might be exploring the trade market ahead of the February 5th trade deadline.

If they can flip Rob Dillingham and maybe another player to add more to this rotation, this Timberwolves team will be coming strong for that third-straight Western Conference Finals appearance.