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The Minnesota Timberwolves will not have Rudy Gobert or Jaden McDaniels when they face the Los Angeles Lakers in the play-in tournament.
Gobert will serve a team-issued one-game suspension after punching teammate Kyle Anderson during the final game of Minnesota’s regular season. McDaniels is out indefinitely due to a fractured right hand he suffered after punching a wall during the same game.
This is a golden opportunity for the Lakers, who will now have a home game on Tuesday against the shorthanded Timberwolves. If they are able to win the match, they will officially earn the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and advance to the playoffs to face the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gobert is one of the league’s best rim protectors and McDaniels is one of the NBA’s most promising young perimeter defenders.
According to matchup data provided by NBA.com, dating back to the 2018-19 season, only eight players have defended Anthony Davis more often than Gobert. Meanwhile, per data from NBA.com, only six players recorded more possessions defending LeBron James in 2022-23.
James was just 5-for-16 (31.3 percent) on possessions when McDaniels was credited as the nearest defender. He averaged 21.4 points per 100 possessions on these opportunities, which was significantly worse than his average (38.6) this season.
Minnesota allowed an additional 3.82 points per 100 when Gobert and McDaniels were off the floor relative to when they played, via PBPStats. These absences are both incredibly costly for the Timberwolves.
Los Angeles can still make the playoffs even if they lose to Minnesota on Tuesday, but the path becomes much harder. They would face the winner of the New Orleans Pelicans vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder, which means one of those teams would come in hungry after securing a win.
Ultimately, after a roller-coaster ride of a regular season, the Lakers need to take advantage of the gift-wrapped opportunity they were given against the Timberwolves.
The Tip-Off
NBA content from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Shortly after Rudy Gobert punched Kyle Anderson, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green posted the exact same tweet that the Minnesota big man sent after the Jordan Poole punch:
“Some people may have forgotten about the tweet, but Green did not.
During the final game of the regular season, Gobert threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson while on the bench during a game against the Pelicans. It was an ugly scene.
Green tweeted the same message Gobert shared in October.
Green can famously recite the names of all 34 players who were selected before him in the 2014 NBA Draft. So it shouldn’t surprise us that he has a strong enough memory to recall what people said about him following his fight with Poole.”
This was vicious!
Shootaround
— Saturday Night Live did a very fun impression of LSU’s Angel Reese during Weekend Update
— Jazz rookie Ochai Agbaji got ejected because the ref didn’t like how the ball was passed to him
— Mikal Bridges played 4 seconds of the Nets’ regular-season finale just to extend his consecutive games streak
— NBA draft lottery odds: Which team has the best shot at the No. 1 pick in 2023?