MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rudy Gobert sized up Nikola Jokic as the three-time NBA MVP tried to attack the four-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner with Minnesota leading Denver by two points and a little more than three minutes left.
With Gobert not ceding any space in the paint, Jokic faked a kickout pass, spun left, then advanced right on the dribble as Jaden McDaniels poked the ball loose. Jokic regained possession and hoisted a one-handed shot
that hit the back of the rim with Gobert's long arm in the way, and the Timberwolves grabbed a crucial rebound.
The Nuggets wilted down the stretch, their star Jokic included, and Gobert had plenty to do with it.
“I told him in the locker room just now before I came in here: ‘Brother, we’re half the team when you’re on the bench,’” Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said after the 119-114 victory Monday night that evened the first-round playoff series at one game apiece.
With Gobert defending him straight up, Jokic went just 1 for 8 from the floor with one assist and no free throws. He finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, shooting 7 for 12 when Julius Randle, Naz Reid or anyone else beside Gobert was guarding him.
“He’s making me make tough shots. He’s big, long. He can reach the ball from any kind of angle or position. He’s a really good defensive player,” Jokic said.
Jokic drew Gobert’s fifth foul on the ensuing possession with what appeared to be a well-executed and well-timed flop, after Gobert was trying to establish a pick-and-roll position at the top of the key and Jokic used the forearm contact as his opening to stumble backward and land flat on his back in the lane.
After giving the Timberwolves 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Game 1 loss on Saturday afternoon, Gobert was limited to two points and seven rebounds after getting in early foul trouble. He picked up his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter, and Jokic went on a roll as soon as Gobert sat.
In the huddle before the fourth quarter began, Edwards urged his 7-foot-1 teammate to resist the temptation to reach in and risk another foul against the astute Jokic.
“I told him, ‘Bro, we ain’t bringing no double team. You’re going to go out one-on-one all night,'” Edwards said.
Gobert took the challenge to heart, just like the Defensive Player of the Year voting that was revealed by the league earlier in the afternoon. Gobert's fellow Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama, unanimously winning the award was not the slight he felt, but finishing fourth behind Chet Holmgren and Ausar Thompson was.
Alluding to the voting, Gobert deadpanned that he must have been lucky defending Jokic with such productive results.
“Not the first time I get disrespected, probably not the last. I’m going to keep being myself,” Gobert said. “If they want to disrespect greatness, you can just take it for granted, whatever. Sooner or later they realize the impact.”
Whether the reasons are cultural, statistical or stylistic, Gobert has long been one of the most-razzed players in the league, whether by analysts, fans or opponents. The Timberwolves, who sent four first-round picks plus the first-rounder they'd just drafted in 2022 as part of the haul they sent the Utah Jazz to acquire Gobert, have always had his back.
“He’s an outstanding defender. He’s an outstanding professional. He’s an outstanding human. He’s about the right things, and it’s just laughable, small-minded and petty, all the crap that people decide to give Rudy,” coach Chris Finch said.
After McDaniels sounded off on the quality of Denver's defense, the Timberwolves are sure to face a fired-up Nuggets team when they host Game 3 on Thursday night. So they'll need plenty more of that robust paint protection from Gobert.
“Everybody's going to say this about Rudy, ‘He's this. He's that,'" Edwards said. “They don’t understand what he means to us when he’s on the floor. People don’t want to lay the ball up around him. People just don’t want to go at Rudy.”
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