Rudy Gobert wins two fights, but loses the big one

The Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert had been fighting his teammates, lingering back pain, the opposing team, and sometimes even the referees. But in Game 2 of Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, Gobert’s fight was limited to his battle against the Denver Nuggets. You see, he emerged as the winner, of sorts, in two other fights.

Against his back pain, the word out on the street before Game 2 was that much of the pain that he had to fight through since before the New Orleans game, the last game of the regular season, had subsided:

That allowed Gobert to compete rather effectively in Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs. He was far more aggressive on defense and far more effective on offense. It was that new-and-improved Gobert that proved he had one the second fight, the one with his teammates. When Rudy Gobert was upset with a rather weak technical foul called by the referees in the game, his teammate Kyle Anderson was heard to say:

“If you want to hit someone, hit me.” – Kyle Anderson to an angry Rudy Gobert

That could only be said if the two competitors had already patched things up. Before the incident between Anderson and Gobert, the Timberwolves were being outplayed by the New Orleans Pelicans on every front. Afterward, it was the Timberwolves who outplayed the Pelicans well enough to land the eighth-seed berth in the NBA Playoffs and end up in Round 1 against the first-seeded Denver Nuggets.

But it’s the fight against the Nuggets that Rudy Gobert is losing right now. We know that the Timberwolves NBA Playoffs would be a difficult series. But the players who have shown up are Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, and to a lesser extent Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Without Karl-Anthony Towns showing up in a big way for this one, the Timberwolves’ chances of winning a game are not good.

It’s nice to win a battle. But the Minnesota Timberwolves are at war right now against the Denver Nuggets right now. It would be even nicer to win that too.