Wolves aim to go big with Gobert vs. Lakers after center's strong regular season finish
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Even with confidence and patience in the potential of their team adjusting after a surprise trade right before the beginning of training camp, the Minnesota Timberwolves were in rough shape at the All-Star break.
Rudy Gobert was at the top of the list, with a lower back injury that had just popped up and some lackluster performances over the first four months of the season. The four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, who'd been so vital to Minnesota's run to the 2024 Western Conference finals, simply looked out of sync on many nights after making so much progress from his first season with the Wolves to his second.
That unexpectedly extended break — he went 25 days between games — provided the reset that Gobert needed.
Since his return in early March, the 32-year-old has made a much more consistent impact on both ends of the floor while helping the Wolves finish strong with 17 wins in their last 21 games.
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“He told us coming into and out of the All-Star break that he knew what he had to do to return to his best form. He’s done that,” coach Chris Finch said. "Early in the season, I think there were some normal frustrations and growing pains. It might’ve been fatigue coming out of the Olympics. There were two straight summers with a lot of basketball, and I think he maybe kind of purposely was in a lower gear, maybe saving himself, but the Rudy we see now is the Rudy we’ve seen all last year and the Rudy that we need to be the best team we can be.”
There's no time like the present, with the Wolves facing the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Game 1 is Saturday.
“Rudy’s going to have to be huge. I think he knows that. I think he’s prepared himself for this for the last couple months,” point guard Mike Conley said. “He’s really worked himself into great shape. He looked really good the last few weeks of the season, and we know we’re going to have to utilize him a lot.”
Gobert had 15 or more points and 15-plus rebounds in five of the last 10 games. His field goal percentage (70.7) and scoring (15.4) and rebounding (12.5) averages were markedly better in the 17 games he played after his injury than in 55 games prior to the All-Star break.
“I don't think my game changed. I just think I got in a little groove by trying to be more aggressive, trying to really set the tone for this team,” Gobert said. “And obviously the importance of the moment and importance of every single game down the stretch, I think, probably subconsciously allowed me to play at an even higher level.”
The only true center in the rotation for the Lakers is 7-footer Jaxson Hayes, who averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 19.5 minutes per game. They prefer to play smaller and faster, with of course the entire operation revolving around Luka Doncic and LeBron James. Doncic's arrival in the stunning trade with Dallas that sent center Anthony Davis to the Mavericks changed a whole lot in the Western Conference.
In the season-opening victory by the Lakers over Minnesota in Los Angeles, Davis dominated with 36 points and 16 rebounds while making Gobert’s defense moot. Minnesota won the next two matchups at home with better containment of Davis inside. The only time the Timberwolves faced the Lakers after the Doncic trade, a win in Los Angeles by the home team, Gobert was out.
In the Western Conference finals last season, when Dallas downed Minnesota in five games, Doncic averaged 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals while hitting 23 3-pointers. Gobert was largely ineffective, with a minus-16 rating for the series. The center tandem of the high-leaping Dereck Lively and the bruising Daniel Gafford made the paint difficult for Gobert, even if that step-back 3-pointer by Doncic off a crossover dribble in Gobert's face to win Game 2 in Minnesota was the viral video clip from that matchup.
“My whole career, I'm very likely to be crossed over,” Gobert said this week. “Very likely people are going to hit some tough shots over me, and then I might get dunked on. All this stuff might happen, but let's see what happens over the course of hundreds and hundreds of possessions.”
Doncic will be eager to try to exploit the big man if he gets that matchup again on a crucial possession. As for the Wolves, well, they've got plenty of faith in Gobert despite the skepticism that surrounds him throughout the league regarding his effectiveness when the other team plays small ball.
“Some of these narratives are cheap. They’re easy. They grab a hold of them and just spin them all the time," Finch said. "But if you study what’s really going on, what the numbers might say, or being true to yourself in a lot of ways and trusting in why that’s been good to you, then I think there’s a lot of value in that. I don’t expect the average fan to dig into all of those things. But that’s our job.”