All season long, the Minnesota Timberwolves have struggled in the non-Rudy Gobert minutes. Notably, the Wolves' defense is 13.1 points per 100 possessions better with Rudy on the court, a number that ranks in the 99th percentile per Cleaning the Glass.
The lack of rim protection from Julius Randle and Naz Reid has been a key factor in this problem. You can play around with lineup combinations to make the non-Rudy defense look more promising. However, the reality is that the Wolves haven't found any semblance of consistent defense with Gobert off the floor.
Saturday's loss to the Orlando Magic is yet another example of the Wolves' struggles in the non-Gobert minutes. Per PivotFade, they posted a 112.3 defensive rating with Rudy on the court and a 137 DRTG without him. In this blowout loss, the Wolves gave up 60 points in the paint. Furthermore, in three of the past four games, the Wolves' defense has been 20 or more points per 100 possessions better with Gobert on the court.
For a team that's built its identity around defense, these inconsistent lapses on the defensive end of the floor are highly problematic. Yes, regarding Saturday's game specifically, it doesn't help when you shoot 35.7 percent from the field and 22.5 percent from beyond the arc. Nevertheless, the non-Gobert minutes have remained a concern on defense throughout the year, and it certainly factored into Saturday's loss.
The Wolves' non-Rudy Gobert minutes could cost them in the playoffs
As frustrating as this is in the regular season, the non-Gobert minutes could truly cost the Timberwolves come playoff time. With opposing teams seemingly having a runway to the rim, they will undoubtedly try to punish the Wolves' defense whenever Gobert is on the bench.
In addition to the raw on/off data, opposing teams shoot 6.5 percent more shots at the rim with Gobert off the court, a number that ranks in the 98th percentile.
Within all likelihood, the Wolves will match up with one of the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, or Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. All of these teams can expose the Wolves' non-Rudy minutes. The Nuggets and Rockets can naturally punish Minnesota given their frontcourt size. And while the Lakers don't have a ton of size, they lead the league in rim field goal percentage.
On paper, the non-Gobert minutes shouldn't be this much of a problem. The additions of Ayo Dosunmu and Kyle Anderson (who was inactive) on Saturday should help. Dosunmu provides some extra point of attack defense, while Anderson's versatility is beneficial.
However, until the Wolves show real evidence of improvement with Gobert off the court, this will remain a concern regarding their title chances, and it may send them home early in the playoffs.