The Minnesota Timberwolves achieved a key objective by securing a victory in Los Angeles. A significant element of their success has been their stifling defense, spearheaded by Rudy Gobert. While the narrative often highlights Gobert’s potential weakness in isolation, the Lakers repeatedly challenged him by forcing switches onto their premier offensive players, compelling the center to defend in open space.
Even TNT announcers acknowledged to the face that every time Gobert would make a switch, they emphasized it as a “mismatch in the Lakers’ favor”. After game two, the statistics don’t back up those claims. According to NBA matchup data, Luka Doncic and LeBron James each scored two points on a combined 1-of-7 shooting while being defended by Gobert. The Lakers were credited with 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting on attempts defended by Gobert.
The difficult basket in the second quarter was Doncic’s sole score against Gobert; he then missed his next three attempts. Austin Reaves was 2 for 5 against Gobert, with one of those shots a circus shot. James went 0 for 3 against him. Gobert’s defensive performance has been strong through two games.
“Rudy’s a -2,” head coach Chris Finch said after the Wolves’ nine-point loss. “His impact on the floor remains pretty strong.”
📹Rudy Gobert isolation possessions G2 vs LA pic.twitter.com/d85Ssu2pbR
— Jonah (@Huncho_Jman) April 23, 2025
Gobert’s offensive and rebounding numbers haven’t been impressive. He only has eight points and 12 rebounds in the two games. Gobert averaged 18.8 PPG and 14.9 RPG in the last 10 games of the regular season. The Wolves would like a little more offense and to be stronger on the glass, but his defense has been reliable. The idea that he’d be “played off the floor” by the Lakers team didn’t materialize.
Across Gobert’s 53 minutes in LA, the Wolves held the Lakers to 38 percent shooting and a 99 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions), as radio announcer Alan Horton noted. In the 43 minutes with Gobert off the floor, the Lakers shot 49 percent with a 112 offensive rating. That adds up to Gobert being a major impact on the court. There will be times when the Wolves take Gobert out to get a better offensive lineup on the court with Julius Randle or Naz Reid at the five, but “unplayable” has not been mentioned in this series.
Gobert has been the focus of public scrutiny since the COVID-19 pandemic started. He was the first player to test positive, ultimately shutting down the NBA season. Fans took offense to Rudy mocking the COVID-19 illness by touching all of the microphones after an interview, in which he publicly apologized after the fact.
Locked In: Gobert and Wolves Ready to Ignite Target Center Crowd
Many players criticize him, arguing that he doesn’t deserve his four Defensive Player of the Year awards. They bring up past moments where Doncic and other players scored highlight-reel baskets against Gobert in isolation. (most notably Luka’s game-winning three in last year’s Western Conference Finals). He’s far from a liability in those isolation scenarios.
Gobert was solid defensively in game two, where the Wolves dug an early 20-point deficit and couldn’t hit a three-pointer after sinking a franchise record 21 in game 1. Games 3 and 4 will be at home at the Target Center, where it will be a crazy atmosphere. Even Doncic pointed that out in his post-game interview after the Lakers won Game 2.
“Oh, it’s going to be tight,” Dončić said about heading to Minneapolis after the Lakers evened the series with a win in Game 2 Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
“I remember that they have amazing fans and they’re very loud,” he said. “At some point, [the Timberwolves are] going to make a run and we gotta stay together. It’s us against the whole arena, so it’s going to be very tough. I experienced that and it wasn’t easy. We gotta stay together no matter what.”
The Wolves will need the fans to be rowdy to help them get a victory in Game 3. The good thing for the Wolves is that the momentum remains neutral after Minnesota outplayed the Lakers for three quarters in Game 2. Out of the ten playoff teams that made it (including the play-in teams), only the Mavericks (17-25) had a worse road record than the Lakers (19-22) in the entire Western Conference.
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