Rudy Gobert is certainly one of the best defenders in the NBA — there’s no question about that.
You don’t win three defensive player of the year awards by being a liability on that end of the floor. He’s one of the best shot blockers and rim protectors we’ve ever seen.
But…none of that really mattered in game 6 against the Clippers on Friday night.
They legitimately attacked Gobert to the point where he was uncharacteristically ineffective on defense in an elimination game. It was wild to watch. He finished the night as a -24 — a huge negative.
There are a couple of stats that show just how much the Clippers took advantage of the Jazz star.
First, he didn’t register a single block in Game 6 just like Game 5. It was the first time that happened for him in a year, per StatMuse. The last time was when the Jazz were eliminated by the Nuggets.
Rudy Gobert has 0 blocks in back-to-back games for the first time since…
Last year’s playoff series vs the Nuggets.
(Submitted by @jonathan329) pic.twitter.com/VoJWiaalOF
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 19, 2021
This next one is worse, though. Gobert was the primary defender on 19 of the Clippers’ shot attempts in the 2nd half of Game 6 when they made their furious comeback.
They hit 15 of those shots, per StatMuse.
Rudy Gobert was the closest/primary defender on 19 Clipper shot attempts in the 2nd half of Game 6.
The Clippers made 15 of those shots (79%). pic.twitter.com/Rh13znzVL3
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 19, 2021
That’s just incredible. That typically does not happen with Gobert.
To be fair to Rudy, though, many of them were contests like this one where he had to close out to wide-open shooters while also trying to defend the paint.
The inability to prevent penetration is killing the Jazz. Another Clarkson blow by and it is almost the same exact play as the previous one. pic.twitter.com/QHFz28X3wp
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) June 19, 2021
That’s part of the reason Terance Mann had a career night. But some of them were certainly possessions like this where he was absolutely attacked by the Clippers.
Reggie Jackson has two nearly identical floaters over Rudy Gobert in this quarter. Both are off pick-and-roll action in which the Clippers force a switch, after which Jackson drives by Royce O’Neale and challenges the Defensive Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/148PSjTnvj
— Positive Residual (@presidual) June 19, 2021
It was just a rough game for Gobert. He had to navigate so much space from the paint to the 3-point line to guard the Clippers’ small-ball lineup and he just couldn’t do it. That’s not his game as a defender — he’s a rim protector, not a defender.
This is certainly a lesson in the limitations of a rim protector like Gobert, but it also shows how important keeping paint penetration to a minimum is.
Either way, the Jazz and Gobert couldn’t get it done defensively against the Clippers. And that’s why they’re going home.
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