Timberwolves 133, Nuggets 104: Welcome Back, Rudy Gobert

A dominant game from the reigning Defensive Player of the Year showed a ceiling the Timberwolves hadn’t reached yet this season.

The “Where’s Waldo?” game of trying to find the Rudy Gobert of last season is over.

At least for now.

A dominant two-way performance from number 27 spearheaded the Minnesota Timberwolves to a convincing 29-point win over one of the hottest teams in the league in the Denver Nuggets. Gobert looked like the 7-foot paint anchor that everyone had become accustomed to seeing last season. Whether it was taking on the Nikola Jokić assignment or rolling to the basket and creating gravity, it was all working. Contrary to many other performances this season, it helped set the tone for the starting five from the jump.

A pleasant surprise for a sold out ABC-televised matinee at Target Center and a loud contingent of fans, the Wolves, and their starting 5, put up their best first quarter of the season, let alone at home. Their 40 points is the second-best scoring quarter all season, and the most since November.

Much of it had to do with making the right play from the jump and letting pace with quick decision making turn into positive offense.

“It certainly wasn’t a defensive battle,” Chris Finch said after the game.

71 combined first quarter points between the teams translated to not very many misses. While Gobert did his part, the Wolves shot 69 percent from the field (nice) as a whole, while Denver matched it with a 61 percent, 13-point Jokić opening quarter of their own.

Anthony Edwards set the franchise record for three-pointers made in just his fifth season, Passing Karl-Anthony Towns. Playing through an illness that ushered him onto the injury report the night before the game, he gave it a go and shot his way atop the franchise record book. He finished with what seemed to be a quiet 34 points, and stuck out with nine assists, finding his chemistry with Gobert.

Ultimately, it was the ability to create turnovers that led to the created disparity out of the gate and for the rest of the game. The Wolves were able to effectively front Jokić and find their way into passing lanes. Out of Denver’s 11 first half turnovers, nine of them were steals. When it was all said and done, the Wolves generated 37 points off of turnovers. It tired, frustrated, and got Jokić off his game. It seemed by the end of things that it was a contest he rather would not have been a part of.

This was a blowout, folks. The stats favor Minnesota. Denver never led in the game, and it was a sign early that the home team wanted to put their foot on the gas and keep it there. A change of pace from most of the season.

Let’s talk a little bit more about what got things there.

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Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images

A Vintage Gobert Game

It’s was a tough stretch for Rudy Gobert heading into Saturday, and everything encompassing, it wasn’t shaping up to be a matchup that was particularly conducive for him. Over the last couple months, while he would have a respectable game on the boards every now and again, it didn’t feel like Gobert was right physically, or that a return to paint dominance was in his future.

Turns out, it was. I’ll admit my surprise. He had a classic 14 point, 14 rebound game that’s been a staple throughout his career.

Gobert put seven points up in the first four minutes of the game, had four first quarter assists, and though Jokić found success against him offensively early on, he eventually honed in and held him in check.

“He was really good,” Finch said. “He set the tone on the offensive glass in the first quarter…he continued to be a presence when they tried to put small guys on him. His activity level…he bothered everything.”

Cutting off angles in the paint for drivers was important, and finding a way to corral rebounds. Jokić finished the game with just three rebounds. He had two in a game in December, but before that something he hadn’t done since 2020.

“It’s really important to set the tone, I realize as a leader, I want to set the tone for my teammates,” Gobert mentioned in the locker room afterwards. “I think it gives everyone confidence…offensively [too] being a force and making the right play.”

A play that drew my attention the most was a third quarter pick and roll with Anthony Edwards that ended in a successful floater. Not only does Edwards typically shy away from passing Gobert the ball on the roll to the basket, but more so that a floater hasn’t been something that Gobert has shown off before as a part of his offensive game.

If that shot is something that can become more of a confidence point, I think there’s a lot more in store for the Wolves offensively down the stretch than what’s been shown so far.

“It’s a hard thing sometimes, especially for Ant sometimes to throw that pass,” Mike Conley added afterwards, moreso talking about throwing lobs to a cutting Rudy in the lane. “Especially if we’re not going to get something out of it. But for Rudy it’s just about making the right reads, not trying to do too much…cause we we make the right reads, we’re really tough.”

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Emptying The Notebook

• Anthony Edwards passing up Karl-Anthony Towns in franchise history for three pointers made in five seasons got me thinking. Is that a mark of Edwards being a volume shooter, or is it an indictment of of how relatively few three pointers KAT took in a Wolves uniform? There’s a chance Towns is the best shooting big man I will ever see in person. The coaching staff consistently wanted him to take more season after season. But there was a lot of meat left on the bone in terms of his overall attempts. Nothing really to add to this, but just had me thinking.
• Denver was really soft on the interior. Part of it was Gobert, the other part was just an overall lack of wanting to contest anything inside. 72 of the Wolves’ 133 points came in the paint.
• The strategy of guarding Jokic straight up with Rudy worked. I thought heading in that perhaps it would be Julius Randle on him with Rudy roaming, but it turned out not to be. One of the interesting things I noticed is it almost immediately turned him into a scorer, which I think is advantageous for the Wolves. Lots of players want to go right at Rudy. In this case, I think it ultimately bodes well. Especially with him shooting the three at a much better clip this year, the roving strategy left him open a little more frequently and could have been a bit troublesome in the early going.
• It happened – the Wolves outrebounded the other team. They also won the second chance points battle. Julius Randle, who had another really solid team-oriented game, had five offensive rebounds on his own.

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Up Next

The Wolves will host Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. It will be the first time in five weeks that the wolves will have consecutive home games.

Atlanta is in a little bit of a slump currently, and a win on Monday would be another step in the right direction for a Timberwolves team that’s starting to gain some confidence

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Highlights