Draymond Green would have you think that Rudy Gobert is a fraud.
Green loves to play the villain, whether that is to entire fan bases or setting himself up against individual players. He generally gets away with it, too, whether that’s punking Domantas Sabonis or flashing his rings in the face of less successful players.
One of his greatest foils, a player he verbally tears down on a regular basis, is Rudy Gobert. The Minnesota Timberwolves center is a four-time winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award, while Green has won just a single time. It’s a series of perceived slights that Draymond uses not only to fuel his fiery play but to supply his running mouth.
There will be no jawing from Green for at least one night, as Green and the Golden State Warriors were taken out to the woodshed by the Houston Rockets. One game after a sublime defensive showing in a Game 4 victory, he was nowhere to be found on Wednesday night. Green was a team-worst -29 on the night in just 18 minutes, scoring seven points with a single rebound and a single assist.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr pulled his starters early in the second half, conceding the defeat and giving Green plenty of time to stew on the embarrassing loss. Then, to add insult to injury, the player he loved most to clown had the game of his life to steal the spotlight.
Rudy Gobert was incredible while Green flopped
The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second game of Wednesday’s playoff double-header. Down 3-1 in the series, the Lakers needed to defend homecourt and force a Game 6.
The problem was that they had no one who could stop Rudy Gobert. The defensive juggernaut walled off the rim all night, finishing with two blocks and a number of altered shots. Yet he also brought the hammer on offense, shooting 12-of-15 from the field for 27 points. Every rebound was magnetically pulled to his hands, with nine offensive rebounds and 24 total on the night.
It was possibly the greatest game of Rudy Gobert’s career, and it buried the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a game-best +18 in his 39 minutes, a massive total in both categories for the oft-maligned center. And for it to come on the night of Draymond Green’s quiet failure was all the more bitter for Green and the Warriors.
Eight players in NBA history have now had 25+ points, 20+ rebounds and 2+ blocks in a playoff series closeout win: seven Hall of Fame big men, and Rudy Gobert. He joins the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The Timberwolves have advanced and are now afforded the chance to rest as they await the winner of the Golden State / Houston series. If the Warriors can win one of the next two games and advance, Gobert will be waiting for them.
Does Green have enough in the tank to shut down his longtime foe? Or will this playoff series prove to be the undoing of both Green and this era of Warriors basketball?
For one night, at least, everything went wrong for Draymond Green — including an embarrassingly good performance from his main rival.
