Rudy Gobert is standing tall for Timberwolves when they need him most

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On the Detroit Pistons’ second possession of the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, Pistons center Jalen Duren took the ball right at reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, putting an elbow into Gobert’s throat as he powered to the rim for a bucket.

Gobert grabbed at his Adam’s apple, shook his head and collected himself as he headed back up the court. A message had been delivered by the young, fiery Pistons. They were down two of their best players in Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris, but they were still coming for the Timberwolves’ necks.

On the next trip down the floor, Gobert set a hard screen on Ausar Thompson to spring Julius Randle. He then rolled to the basket to catch a lob for his second dunk of the game, sending a message of his own. The Pistons could come for the Timberwolves, they could try to bully them, but Gobert wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to be there all night.

TOSS IT UP 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wIYsw8Ghyw

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 30, 2025

On a night that went from fiery to ferocious when an altercation between Pistons rookie Ron Holland II and Timberwolves veterans Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid spilled into the first row of seats at Target Center, Gobert displayed a different kind of toughness. He put up 19 points and 25 rebounds in 38 minutes to help the Wolves overcome a 16-point deficit, survive the ejections of DiVincenzo, Reid and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni, and steamroll the shorthanded Pistons, 123-104, for a much-needed victory.

“Rudy was spectacular on both ends, and on the glass,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.

The Timberwolves (43-32) have been waiting for this version of Gobert for most of the season. Last year was a triumphant one for the proud center, who had been criticized heavily for his play in his first season in Minnesota in 2022-23. He reasserted himself as an All-World defender, tying the record with his fourth DPOY award and leading the No. 1 defense in the league to the Western Conference finals. He entered the season looking for redemption, to prove something, and it could be seen in his play.

This season, the impact has been more sporadic. The Wolves are still a very good defense, ranking sixth in defensive efficiency. But they’re not the dominant unit that took over games, and playoff series, last season. This year, he is averaging 11.2 points per game, his lowest total since his third season in the league. His 10.6 rebounds are his fewest since Year 2 in 2014-15 and his 1.4 blocks are tied with that disappointing first season in Minnesota for his lowest average as a regular starter in the NBA.

As the Timberwolves try to scratch and claw their way out of the Play-In Tournament, Gobert is rounding into form. He has double-doubles in four straight games, is averaging 16.8 points and 16.3 rebounds in those games and starting to look like the imposing presence in the paint that he has been for his entire career.

ACCESS DENIED ❌ pic.twitter.com/0VeH32IuBn

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 31, 2025

“I just try to set the tone,” Gobert said. “I know that when I do that, it’s contagious for the team. For me, it’s really important to do it for the first minute of the game to the last and in practice every day and in the weight room. Wherever I’m at, I try to lead by example.”

It’s go time for the Timberwolves, and that means Gobert has to put his foot on the gas. They are a different team when he is at his best, walling off the paint, forcing drivers to think twice as they consider a run at the rim and making them pay on the other end when they try to get away with putting a smaller defender on him.

He is never going to be a graceful presence in the post. There will be times, and there were on Sunday against the Pistons, when he blows point-blank layups. But the Timberwolves cannot ignore Gobert on offense because that allows the defense to ignore him as well. When the Wolves traded Karl-Anthony Towns, who was more than willing to throw Gobert the ball on offense, for Julius Randle and DiVincenzo, it upset the equilibrium that Gobert had reached.

Randle and DiVincenzo went through the same learning process that most do with Gobert. They had to understand where best to throw the ball so Gobert could catch it and finish it. Gobert had to earn their trust. So it comes as no surprise that Gobert is averaging 6.7 shots per game this season, his lowest mark since Year 3 in Utah.

But over the last four games, he is getting 10.5 attempts per game. The vast majority of those are dunks. He had eight of them in a win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night and another six against the Pistons on Sunday. And when he throws them down with force like he did against the Pistons, the aftershocks reverberate through the entire team.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE 😤 pic.twitter.com/Op6U6UhEYQ

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 31, 2025

It has been a season-long process for Randle to develop the kind of chemistry that Gobert had with Towns. But it is starting to show signs of emerging. Randle wants Gobert to operate in the dunker spot on offense, the area on the floor just outside of the lane on the baseline. That allows Randle to see the floor, get Gobert into actions and throw him passes that Gobert can handle.

“I tell his ass all the time, ‘Rudy, get to the dunker. You get to the dunker and I’m gonna find you,’” Randle said after the win over Phoenix on Friday. “When he gets to the bottom of the floor, he sets screens, he rolls hard and he collapses the defense, even if he might not get it, it’s a positive for our team. He’s gotta keep playing with that energy.”

The Wolves know that every touch Gobert gets on offense is another seed planted that will germinate on the defensive end. Even when fans tear their hair out over a post-up gone awry, the Wolves know that it will pay out with a shot contest on defense. Gobert had three dunks in the first quarter against the Pistons, then was a major part of them shooting just 43 percent in the paint over the final three quarters as the Wolves rallied to the win.

“When he gets those looks, it also energizes him defensively,” said Randle, who had 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Detroit. “He’s contesting everything that came in the paint. When Rudy plays like that, too, we’re a tough team to beat.”

Toughness can take on many forms. It could be seen on Sunday in DiVincenzo, who understood that the Wolves were getting bullied by the Pistons while falling behind by 16 points in the first quarter. As soon as DiVincenzo entered the game, he ramped up the physicality to match Detroit’s flex. He found the biggest, baddest Piston on the floor, enforcer Isaiah Stewart, and went at him. He threw a shoulder into Stewart while battling on the boards, sending him under the basket. He let his disgust with an errant Stewart floater be known so loudly that it was picked up by the broadcast microphones. He plowed over Simone Fontecchio in transition, letting the Pistons know he wasn’t there to be punked.

And when Reid took exception to a foul from Holland in the second quarter, it was DiVincenzo who stepped in and started a skirmish that resulted in seven people getting ejected and the Target Center crowd getting ignited.

“It, in a sense, woke us up out of how we’d been playing at the moment,” Mike Conley said. “I think it gave everybody a little bit of adrenaline. You hate to lose guys in the middle of the game like that, but they turned the game around for us, honestly, and I’m just proud of the way we responded, stayed mature about it and handled our business.”

Randle showed a different kind of toughness. He did not engage in a literal fight, but he responded with force when the Pistons brought the fight to the Wolves. After a slow start to the game, he began to ramp up his aggression going to the basket, dropping his shoulder to clear space and scoring through contact. He also blocked a shot from Dennis Schröder and howled at the crowd as he smelled a comeback in the air.

ONE MAN FAST BREAK 🚂 pic.twitter.com/r1iAM4VVVA

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 31, 2025

And then there was Gobert, responding to the challenges he’s heard from his teammates and coaches. They have been urging him to assert himself, to be the kind of presence that he takes so much pride in being. They know they’re a different team when he plays that way.

“I mean, he’s got to play like the Defensive Player of the Year that he’s been,” Finch said after Gobert had 17 points, 13 rebounds and four steals against the Suns. “He was huge around the rim, just setting the tone. As we get more aggressive on the ball, they may think twice about coming to the rim.”

That’s what happened on Sunday against the Pistons. After Detroit put up 34 points in the first quarter, the Pistons scored just 60 points the rest of the way. Without Cunningham, Harris and the three players that were ejected — Holland, Stewart and Marcus Sasser — they were short on firepower. Lording over the paint the way that he did, Gobert made them look even smaller.

“Defensively just them pushing me every day, challenging me to be the best defender in the world,” Gobert said. “That’s what I think I am, so I gotta bring that every single minute when I’m on the floor.”

Some players would take exception to being pushed like that. Some would get defensive about a critique and point the finger back at teammates for their own shortcomings. Gobert has taken it to heart. He knows the discourse surrounding him and he knows the only way to rebut it is to win. The playoffs are right around the corner. The Wolves are still a half-game behind the Golden State Warriors for the coveted sixth seed with just seven games to go. Gobert is needed now more than ever, and he likes that very much.

“It’s the time of the year for me that I also get excited about,” Gobert said with a smile. “Pretty special opportunity to do something unique. Every game matters.”

(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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