During Friday’s game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, Nuggets guard Christian Braun dunked on Rudy Gobert, which triggered an altercation between the two teams.
Nuggets reserve guard Russell Westbrook ran toward Gobert in defense of Braun, which caused Gobert to immediately back up.
Rudy Gobert thought Russell Westbrook was gonna take his lifepic.twitter.com/3NKoiMMMeh
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 2, 2024
Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma commented on an Instagram post claiming that Gobert flinched at the sight of the 6-foot-4 Westbrook.
View this post on Instagram
The Timberwolves ended up winning that game, 119-116, improving their record to 3-2 while dropping Denver’s record to 2-3.
Gobert, who is 7-foot-1, has won the Defensive Player of the Year award four times, but some have criticized him for his lack of defensive versatility and absence of offensive skill.
Minnesota gave up viable role players and multiple first-round draft picks to acquire Gobert from the Utah Jazz in the summer of 2022. It seemed like a ludicrous price for the center at the time.
But the team finished with the third seed and reached the Western Conference Finals last season. It punched its ticket there by upending the Nuggets, who had won the 2023 NBA championship, in seven games in the second round of the postseason.
The Timberwolves made a stunning trade a few weeks ago by sending All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks for forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo. Some were skeptical about that trade, but Randle is playing outstanding basketball to start the season. He’s averaging 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game while shooting an unreal 57.1 percent from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets are trying to figure out how to return to elite status after losing starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency this summer. They have been hoping Westbrook, who they brought in during the offseason, would improve their weak bench, but he’s shooting a putrid 24.4 percent from the field so far this year.
He went 1-of-8 from the field and committed four turnovers in 25 minutes during Friday’s game.
