Timberwolves are in their most difficult stretch of the NBA season

DALLAS — One of the revelatory statistics about the Timberwolves' 17-5 start to the season is that this many games into the season, the Wolves have yet to lose consecutive games.

So if the pattern holds, Thursday's game at Dallas should go in the win column after the Wolves lost Monday in New Orleans.

But Wolves fans should brace themselves, especially over this next stretch of games. For those fans who might have been hesitant to buy in to the Wolves' early-season success, these next 15 games might not produce the same rate of success that the team's first 22 games did. That doesn't mean the team with the best record in the Western Conference is any less the team they've showed they can be — it's because they are going through what is most likely their most difficult stretch of schedule for the rest of the season.

With Monday's loss in New Orleans, the Wolves began a stretch of 16 games — 11 on the road — against teams who were .500 or better. That continues Thursday in Dallas before the Wolves come home Saturday against upstart Indiana; then they hit the road for matchups against Miami and Philadelphia.

Over this stretch, they will travel to both coasts, return to Minnesota for some one-off home games — which tend to feel more like road games on their bodies — and play a few grueling sets of back-to-backs.

The Wolves are bound to be tired on some nights, and the schedule might set them up for some losses, like in early January when they have to play the Celtics in Boston a night after playing the surging Magic in Orlando.

The Wolves should set themselves up for a good second half of the season if they can play at or around .500 ball through this 16-game stretch. In a change from last season, they built themselves some breathing room in their record by taking care of the teams they should have defeated over the first quarter of the season. The Wolves were 6-10 against the bottom five teams of the league last season. Their worst loss this season came against the 9-14 Raptors, who are 11th in the East.

According to the website tankathon.com, the Wolves have the 16th-toughest schedule remaining, and that number should go down once they exit this part of the schedule with a home game against Portland on Jan. 12.

The Wolves still have four games against the Trail Blazers, two against the Wizards, Jazz, Pistons, Spurs, Bulls and Grizzlies (who will have Ja Morant back by then) once they finish this stretch. That chunk against teams who are all currently out of the play-in conversation represents nearly one-third of their remaining games once this difficult stretch is over. The time to pile up wins again eventually will resume.

The Wolves got some help on the injury front, with forward Jaden McDaniels returning to the lineup Monday after dealing with a sprained ankle. Now they wait to see when guard Anthony Edwards can return to 100% as he deals with a hip pointer that has affected him since Nov. 28. Edwards has missed three of the past five games and is questionable for Thursday's game. The Wolves, who will face Dallas twice during this stretch, are likely to miss Kyrie Irving at least this time around as he recovers from an injured heel, which has him out indefinitely.

The Wolves defense will give them a shot to win most nights, but Edwards's presence makes a significant difference for their offense. The Wolves are 8.2 points better per 100 possessions when Edwards is on the floor than when he isn't. Edwards' absence wasn't a problem in victories over Utah, Charlotte and Memphis, when he only played a few minutes before exiting Friday.

As the Wolves found out Monday, it won't be as easy for the next few weeks.