With Anthony Edwards out of action on Monday, the Minnesota Timberwolves needed others on the team to step up to account for the missing offense. They received a balanced offensive attack as their five-game losing streak was put to bed against the (very) shorthanded Golden State Warriors. Nobody scored more than 18 points, and six players finished with at least 14.
One of those six was Rudy Gobert. It was an excellent all-around game for the 33-year-old, grabbing 17 rebounds, blocking two shots, and scoring 15 points. It continues a theme that has gone on this season, as the Timberwolves normally win when Gobert produces on offense.
Team wins when Gobert makes a mark on offense
Monday’s victory over Golden State marked the 15th time this year that Gobert has scored at least 13 points. In those 15 outings, Minnesota owns a stellar 13-2 record. Yesterday was his 45th appearance (has only missed two on the year), and the Timberwolves have a much less successful 14-16 record when the center finishes the contest with 12 points or less.
As you can see, the more Gobert produces on the offensive end, the more likely it is that the Wolves can pull out a win. Unfortunately, his scoring output doesn’t come consistently. Prior to Monday, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year had gone six straight appearances without reaching that 13-point mark.
Now in his 13th season, Gobert has never been a high-usage player. He has never averaged double-digit field goal attempts per game in a year, and he only has five games in 2025-26 where he has attempted at least 10 shots.
While it's clear that Gobert's offensive production leads to winning, it's unclear if he can consistently provide this level of scoring in the playoffs. Notably, Gobert averaged just 7.9 points per game in last year's playoffs.
Gobert leads league in field goal percentage
Rudy is someone who relies on his teammates a lot for his offense. He isn’t going to attempt anything outside of the paint, and if nobody finds him open down low, then his scoring is going to come from tip-ins and put-backs.
Never one to force up a bad shot, Gobert is leading the league in field goal shooting at 71.3 percent. It would be the fourth time in his career that he has led the league in the category if he ends the season still atop the leaderboard.
A good sign of late for The Stifle Tower is that the free-throw struggles haven’t been seen. Gobert went 5-for-7 from the line on Monday and 4-for-5 last Thursday against the Chicago Bulls. Prior to those two games, he had a 4-for-20 stretch from the charity stripe that put him under 50 percent for the season from there.