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Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif
After eliminating the Lakers in the first round, Minnesota now leads its series against Golden State. Rudy Gobert is no stranger to this, and according to a franchise expert, all the criticism directed at him would now do him a world of good.
Looking back at their start to the season, it’s hard to imagine them shining like this. And yet, the Timberwolves could well return to the conference finals this year after having already done so in 2024-25. After defeating the Lakers of LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the previous round, they now find themselves in first place against the Warriors.
The hardest part is still to come with Game 4 taking place tonight, but the ball is clearly in Chris Finch’s men’s court. They lead 2-1 against the Dubs, who are without Stephen Curry, who isn’t expected to return until Game 6. If Anthony Edwards and co. play their cards right, the series could already be over before that happens.
Rudy Gobert not so easy to target on defense?
For his part, Rudy Gobert is discretely having a very interesting series. While he plays practically no role on offense, his defense is more than impressive, having finished Game 3 with 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Above all, he is no longer as easily dominated on the perimeter, a detail noted by insider Dane Moore as Gary Payton II failed to score on the French center:
I’m at the point where I think the definitely false but widely accepted narrative that Rudy can’t defend in space plays massively into his favor.
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) May 11, 2025
The amount of guys who try him that definitely should not try him is wild to me.
(Rudy has real, serious issues against small ball —… pic.twitter.com/dQsxEw0G5M
I’m at the point where I think the definitely false but widely accepted narrative that Rudy can’t defend in space plays massively into his favor. The amount of guys who try him that definitely should not try him is wild to me. (Rudy has real, serious issues against small ball — but I promise you it is not this. They are issues on the *offensive* side of the ball.)
After hearing that Gobzilla was easy to target away from the rim, everyone started to believe it. But not everyone can become an elite scorer, and whatever anyone says, the French star didn’t become a 4-times DPOY for no reason… It’s no coincidence that Golden State hasn’t yet scored 100 points in a single game throughout this series.
