After both teams’ playoff openers ran way past midnight, fans of the Wild and Timberwolves began what they hope is a long run of postseason excitement.

But, that would come with a lot of short nights of sleep, lots of morning coffee and battling with bleary eyes.

The first six playoff games – Games 1 through 3 – for both the Wild and Wolves have scheduled start times no earlier than 8:30 p.m. Central. Potential “slides” due to overruns of the games preceding the Wild and Wolves on network TV networks can push the actual start times even later.

It all adds up to late bedtimes and short sleeps for Minnesota fans who stick with all the games.

Charles Barkley is not a fan of the 8:30 PM local start time for T'Wolves-Nuggets.

"We got to have some respect for the fans at some point. It ain't fair for the people in Denver to be playing at 8:30 at night and they got to go to school tomorrow." pic.twitter.com/Bbs2EjmWXs

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 16, 2023

KSTP Sports checked in with Dr. Michael Howell, a sleep expert with M Health Fairview and the University of Minnesota Medical School, to get some advice for fans who will be living and dying through every late night game as long as the Wild and Wolves keep playing.

Click the video box above to watch KSTP Sports’ story with sleep expert Dr. Michael Howell, with advice for Minnesota sports fans burning the midnight oil this playoff season – or click the video box below for our entire conversation with Dr. Howell