Almost 11 months ago on that day, Rudy Gobert became the highlight of a piece of NBA.
He asked his status in the league. Its four defenders of the year are awarded, discredited. His ability to prosper in the postsesone is almost universally rejected.
At the beginning of his career, debates were held about the insight of Gobert in the playoffs, but a step-by-step 3-teacher from Luke Donchich in the last year’s final of the Western conference served not only in the game, but at that time, at that time, at that time, Gobert’s career. This showed that the 7-foot veteran center could simply fix the defense of the regular season, but when it came to the playoffs, with the search for the norm, and not by exception, Gobert simply could not hang with elite scorers around the perimeter of the game.
These issues were again raised during the opening series this year between the sixth Seedan wolves and the third sowing Los Angeles Lakers, where Gobert will again be entrusted to protect Donchich in isolation-input with two other adeptic scorers and playmates in Lebron, James and Austin Revanis. Without a proven true center, Lakers became small for most of the series, which he made Gobert outdated several times.
In the first four games, even when Lakers did not encounter anyone above 6 feet 9 on the floor for long segments, Gobert scored 14 points at 4 for 13 firing, collecting 25 rebounds in a little less than 105 minutes. He blocked only two shots, and although Timberwolves won three of four games, it was clear that Gobert was not going to become an important part of the series.
Or so we thought.
During the victory of Wolves’ 103-96 Series-Clinching Game 5 victories over Lakers on Wednesday, Gobert proved that for him there is still a place, and for proxy, other traditional centers-at the NBA playoffs. From the first tip, Gobert dominated the paint, ending with 27 points and 24 selection (both maximums in the play -off career), making 12 of 15 of his attempts to field goals.
“Rudy is the winner at the highest level,” said Chris Finch, head coach of Minnesota. “He drives victory. You cannot like who he is, how he does it, how he looks, etc. When you have this guy in your team, you understand what a professional and winner is. And he is just such a competitor. ”
These are not just numbers for Gobert. After a slow start, Lakers methodically returned to the game. But, apparently, every time they encountered the full theft of the impulse at the wolves, there was Gobert with the offensive tiller of Monster, he had nine of them, it was a fierce twisted.
It was a Tour de Force from a Frenchman who really needed a post -zon as it was to add a resume to his glory.
“He does not listen to external noise. We do not listen to the external noise, ”Finch said about Gobert. “No one is happier for Rudy than his teammates right now, especially Anthony (Edwards), who gave everyone on the floor to know that it was Rudi’s night, and no one was nearby to stop him.”
The wolves also needed this, since Gobert’s outstanding performances occurred simultaneously with the worst 3-hour night in the history of the playoffs of the NBA. Minnesota went 7 to 47 of the 3-point range, and 40 passes were the most in the game after the season. Their 15% clip is also a new low mark for the team, which makes at least 34 attempts.
Most missed three-eyed in the game, the history of the playoffs of the NBA
It is simply noteworthy that the team could shoot it badly from the 3-point range and still win the game, and this is completely due to the dominance of Gobert in the paint. He was the only Timberwolves player who shot more than 50% of the field at the game 5, and he came to the aid of the usually prolific Anthony Edwards, who went on rotten 0 11 from the range of 3 points, ending with only 15 points.
“Today he was a dragon,” Edwards said about Gobert after the victory. “He was a dragon from the Game of Thrones tonight.”
Will Gobert do this sequentially in the next round? Probably not. Will he even make this postson again? Who knows. But for one night, a large person showed that good old -fashioned centers can still take advantage of when the enemy decides to release the Horde to the house.
“We just have a bunch of guys who want to win,” Gobert said after the game. “Many guys who have experienced a lot of hardships throughout their career throughout their lives. We love each other. ”
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