The Timberwolves host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at Target Center tonight, a bout that comes just 70 hours after Minnesota ousted Denver in Game 7 of the West semifinals to cap a long, grueling series.

Time moves fast in the NBA playoffs. Much faster than the Timberwolves are accustomed to, anyway.

The Wolves had a week between the end of the regular season and Game 1 of the first round against Phoenix. Minnesota’s sweep of the Suns created a similar gap ahead of its series with Denver.

But going the distance with the Nuggets means the Wolves will now have to flip the page quickly, because an entirely different chapter awaits.

Dallas is nothing like Minnesota’s previous two opponents. The Mavericks are a heavy pick-and-roll team, while Phoenix often resorted to isolation basketball, and Denver ran a lot of dribble hand-off actions.

“We know it’s going to be a different style of game — a lot more pick and rolls. The ball handler is the (Nikola) Jokic of the series, where they do a lot of stuff for Luka (Doncic) and Kyrie (Irving), and guys have to be in and out of help situations,” Wolves point guard Mike Conley said. “They play fast with the throw aheads to their athletic wings. So we’ll have multiple challenges this series, and we’ll have to figure that out right away. And, obviously only getting a day and a half to prepare for them, it’s different than the last two series. … So we got to lock in right away.”

Defensively, Dallas has two rim protectors in Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively, while Phoenix nor Denver had much to deter potential drivers who reached the hoop. So, the Mavericks could play someone like Anthony Edwards more straight-up knowing useful help exists behind the primary defender.

These are all things the Wolves have seen before and handled, but they haven’t had to do so in more than a month.

“We spent a lot of time going through that stuff (Tuesday) in practice, just getting back to that foundation of those options on offense and different things we’re going to have to do on defense,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Yeah, we’ve done it. We said all season long we’ve preached to our guys we’re going to have to be to do a lot of different things and the reason we want to do it, not just to navigate a season, but also navigate a playoffs. So we have some experience doing it all.”

Which is helpful, considering Minnesota still probably isn’t exactly sure what approaches — on either end — it will need to utilize to beat the Mavericks. Because it hasn’t played Dallas – not this Dallas, anyway.

The Wolves went 3-1 against the Mavericks during the regular season. But all three wins came when Dallas was without Irving, the star guard, and all four matchups came prior to the trade deadline. The Mavericks were a major winner at the deadline, acquiring multi-faceted wing P.J. Washington and solid center Daniel Gafford, both of whom now start for Dallas.

Their arrivals made the Mavericks deeper, more versatile and, most importantly, far better defensively.

Post deadline, Dallas went 21-9, sporting the league’s seventh-best offense and eighth-best defense.

“We haven’t faced that team yet. We’ve faced some of these guys, obviously, but that group together, we haven’t faced it yet,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said. “So it’s a big challenge for us, but we also believe in who we are, believe in our strengths and we believe in our ability to try to slow them down, and also offensively our ability to find good shots for our team. We know it’s going to be really tough. We know these guys are an incredible team. They’re here for a reason. But everyone in this locker room believes and are just ready for that challenge.”

They better be. Because there is no time to dip their toes into this series. As Denver learned the hard way, a slow start can sometimes prove too difficult to overcome.

“We didn’t expect, just because we beat Phoenix or Denver, that now it’s our time to just run through the West. No, Dallas is here for a reason,” Conley said. “they’re playing some of the best defense and best offense we’ve seen. So that’s our mindset, just sticking to the game plan, getting ready for Dallas.”

All-Defense selections

To the surprise of no one, Gobert was selected first-team All-NBA Defense on Tuesday. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year was joined by fellow big men Bam Adebayo of Miami, Anthony Davis of the Lakers and rookie Victor Wembenyama of San Antonio. The only wing on the first team was New Orleans’ Herb Jones.

The second team, meanwhile, was a haven for the league’s lockdown defensive wings. Featured on that unit was Gobert’s teammate, Jaden McDaniels. The 23-year-old is an All-Defense honoree for the first time in his career after, like Gobert, playing a significant role in Minnesota touting the NBA’s top defense.

Gobert and McDaniels are the Wolves’ third-and-fourth All-Defense honorees, joining Kevin Garnett and Jimmy Butler.

“That was the most important for me, just to see him get his first all-defensive team. He wants to be in the first team, and I think he’s a top five defender in this league, but it’s good to get your first one, and now he gets to show the world who he is every night on the biggest stage,” Gobert said. “So I’m really proud of him, the work that he puts in, the growth, the maturity that he’s shown throughout the year and especially now in the playoffs, we definitely wouldn’t be here without him. The sky is the limit, but it’s good to get his first one. I’m happy for him.”

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