The Timberwolves opening game offers a more challenging matchup than you might think

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ 2025-26 season begins Wednesday night when they travel to play the Portland Trail Blazers. On the face of it, this game isn’t much of a challenge for a Wolves team with championship aspirations. However, it is worth noting that the two teams split the season series last year.

Perhaps the biggest advantage the Blazers have is Toumani Camara. The $82 million man is one of the best on-ball stoppers in the league, and he contained Anthony Edwards better than almost anyone else in the league last season.

Most people expect the Wolves to take care of business in this season opener. Nevertheless, the Blazers’ defense gives them a great opportunity to pull off an upset or at least make things challenging for the Wolves.

Toumani Camara and the Blazers’ defense can make life difficult for the Wolves

Camara earned second-team All-Defensive honors last season. The Dayton product guarded Edwards for 74.5 partial possessions and held him to 35.7 shooting from the field. This is a whopping nine percent below Edwards’ season average. It’s also worth noting that Edwards has historically struggled in season opener games.

At 6-foot-4 with an 8-foot wingspan, Camara has the ideal size and length to contain elite perimeter and wing players. Moreover, Camara is a top athlete with enormous lateral speed. According to CraftedNBA, Camara ranked impressively in the 94th percentile for matchup difficulty and in the 92nd percentile for versatility.

Overall, few players can limit stars like Camara does, and that gives the Blazers a fighting chance against any team.

The Wolves are somewhat lacking in creating secondary shots outside of Edwards. Julius Randle is the leading candidate to provide star-level production in case Edwards struggles. However, they will also lean more towards Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid as shot creators. Notably, the Wolves had a record of just 12-13 last season when Edwards shot under 40 percent from the field.

Undoubtedly, Camara’s elite defense has the chance to turn Wednesday’s game around. It’s not like Camara is the Blazers’ only good defender, either. Donovan Clingan was an elite rim protector as a rookie, Deni Avdija is a versatile fullback and Jrue Holiday has long been one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Portland posted the fourth-best defensive rating after the All-Star break.

The mix of Camara’s great on-ball defense and the Blazers’ overall defensive excellence gives this matchup significant upset potential. You should never underestimate an opponent, and the Wolves better not make that mistake on Wednesday, especially since the Blazers’ defense is well-suited to give Minnesota a headache.