The Minnesota Timberwolves went into Scotiabank Arena in Toronto looking to end a losing streak of historical proportions against the Raptors on Thursday. Instead, they left with another frustrating loss and more questions being asked than answered.
On a night where the Wolves needed to take care of business against inferior competition, they once again played down to their opponent and lost what was a very winnable contest. The Raptors dominated with 56 points in the paint, once again raising eyebrows about Minnesota's defensive efforts.
Perhaps the most jarring moment of Thursday's loss came with just under five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and with the game tied at 95. Rudy Gobert was down in the post with good positioning and just one smaller defender on him. But Julius Randle, who was positioned at the top of the key and with a direct line of sight to Gobert, did not pass his teammate the ball.
Frustrated, Gobert casually left his position and wandered off in the opposite direction of Randle, taking too long to get out of the paint and picking up an offensive three seconds (or three-in-the-key) call. The moment was every bit as worrying as it sounds.
Rudy Gobert was upset Julius Randle didn't give him the ball and got a lazy 3 seconds call and Ant is pissed pic.twitter.com/21nlIAjEmx
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 22, 2024
Gobert got a three-second call while calling for the ball
After the play, Gobert and Randle did not appear to even look at each other. Anthony Edwards, however, clearly showed his frustration with what had just happened. Throwing his hands up at Gobert, Ant did not appear happy with his teammate.
Strangely enough, no Timberwolves reporters were on-site in Toronto, so no one was able to ask any of the players involved on this play what happened, or what their feelings were. We can only go off what we saw on the broadcast, but it seems to be clear just from an outsider's perspective that the vibes are off at the moment.
Gobert clearly felt he should have gotten the ball in that moment. Whether Rudy intentionally committed a three-second violation or was simply lackadaisical in getting out of the paint, it does not seem his head was in the right place on this play. Emotions can get the best of all of us, and perhaps this is just what happened here.
It seems that the frustration over trying to figure out the basketball fit between Gobert and Randle has boiled over, and this sequence was simply the result of it. The most fitting moment unfortunately came in the final seconds, when Randle did actually attempt to pass to Gobert in the post for what would have been a window-dressing bucket, and Rudy lost the pass.
There is clearly still a lot to figure out when it comes to the fit for these two, both offensively and defensively. There will likely be more growing pains, but Wolves fans would be wise not to give up hope just yet.