The Minnesota Timberwolves spent Game 5 in a dismal shooting funk, providing the Los Angeles Lakers with ample opportunity to stave off playoff elimination.
While his teammates struggled, Rudy Gobert stepped up against the small-ball Lakers — and on their big man's shoulders, the Wolves are going all the way back to the second round.
"I thought as a team, you know, more importantly, I thought we did a we did a great job being on the same page defensively and being able to execute all the coverages that we wanted to put out there," said Gobert. "And then I just had to be myself and my teammates trusted me in all these different situations and I trust myself."
Gobert had playoff career highs with 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and Minnesota advanced in the NBA playoffs with a clinching 103-96 victory in their first-round series Wednesday night.
Gobert stepped up when the Lakers deployed a centerless lineup, scoring more points than he managed in the series’ first four games combined. The Lakers also struggled defensively against Gobert, who dominated stretches on both ends.
“Feels great, but not vindication,” Gobert said. “It’s not about beating a specific person. It’s about a championship, and we’ve got a little bit more work to do before that.”
With Gobert running amok in the paint, Minnesota won Game 5 despite going 7 for 47 on 3-point attempts, including 17 consecutive misses between the middle of the second quarter and Mike Conley’s dagger 3 with 1:22 to play.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well, but I thought we were the tougher team mentally and physically,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “That’s when it showed itself. We knew we’d been good in fourth quarters against this team all series. We just needed to see a couple of shots go down opportunistically. Guys did a great job surviving the emotions of the game, which was always going to be a tough game.”
Anthony Edwards had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Wolves, who won three straight games to eliminate LeBron James and Luka Doncic from their first postseason together.
"I'll just say because how deep we are as far as like our bench," Edwards said. "I feel like our bench is almost better than our starting five, like you know? We got starters on the bench so it's hard to beat guys that come in with with so much energy."
For Edwards, it was a chance to gloat after the vast majority of NBA pundits thought the Lakers would walk through the series.
"You know what makes it feel even better is that, they said Lakers in five and the Wolves won in five, so I think that makes it feel 10 times better. That's like my only answer," Edwards said.
After winning a playoff round in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, Minnesota next faces the winner of Houston’s series with Golden State. The Rockets avoided elimination Wednesday, and Game 6 is Friday with the Warriors leading 3-2.
Doncic had 28 points and nine assists, while James added 22 points for the Lakers, who lost in the first round for the second straight postseason despite reconfiguring their roster at midseason with their seismic trade for Doncic.
Rui Hachimura scored 23 points for the Lakers, who have advanced from the opening round just once in five seasons since their 2020 championship in the Florida bubble.
“There’s always a mix of disappointment and gratitude,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Certainly disappointed (because this result is) not something that I ever envisioned with this team, having to go in and talk to them after losing in the first round, but give Minnesota a lot of credit. They’re a really good basketball team, and I think our guys played hard enough and did all the right things.
"We tried to make it work with what we had, and came up a little short.”
WOLVES NEXT ROUND TICKET INFO
For the second-straight year the Minnesota Timberwolves will play in the Western Conference Semifinals after beating the Lakers.
Tickets for the next round go on sale this Friday at noon with Target Center. They'll face either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets.
If it's Golden State, the Timberwolves would have home court advantage and host games 1, 2, 5 and 7. If it's Houston, the Wolves would open on the road and potentially host games 3, 4 and 6.
Tickets will be available at www.timberwolves.com/playoffs or by calling 612-673-1234.