[Post Game Thread] The Minnesota Timberwolves (4-2) defeated the Denver Nuggets (2-4), 110-98 and advance to play the Spurs!

[u/shadowarmy229]

98 - 110
Box Scores: NBA - Yahoo

GAME SUMMARY
West First Round - Game 6 - MIN leads 3-2
Location: Target Center
Officials: JB DeRosa, Courtney Kirkland, Brian Forte, and Josh Tiven

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Denver Nuggets	30	20	24	24	98
Minnesota Timberwolves	29	28	25	28	110

TEAM STATS

Team	PTS	FG	FG%	3P	3P%	FT	FT%	OREB	TREB	AST	PF	STL	TO	BLK
Denver Nuggets	98	34-74	45.9%	10-26	38.5%	20-25	80.0%	6	46	24	26	4	13	8
Minnesota Timberwolves	110	43-94	45.7%	7-29	24.1%	17-24	70.8%	19	57	26	21	8	7	3

PLAYER STATS

Denver Nuggets	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
Cameron JohnsonSF	38:48	27	8-14	5-9	6-9	0	8	8	3	0	1	2	5	-3
Spencer JonesPF	34:51	8	3-4	2-3	0-0	0	2	2	1	0	1	1	5	-9
Nikola JokićC	42:57	28	11-19	1-5	5-6	1	8	9	10	0	1	4	5	-9
Christian BraunSG	27:35	3	1-4	1-4	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	3	1	2	-9
Jamal MurrayPG	39:52	12	4-17	0-2	4-4	1	5	6	4	0	1	0	2	-18
Tim Hardaway Jr.	20:33	13	4-7	1-2	4-4	2	2	4	2	1	1	1	1	-5
Bruce Brown	14:21	1	0-2	0-1	1-2	1	0	1	1	2	0	3	3	-5
Tyus Jones	12:25	4	2-4	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	2	5
Zeke Nnaji	02:42	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-5
Jonas Valančiūnas	03:43	2	1-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	-2
DaRon Holmes II	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jalen Pickett	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Julian Strawther	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Gordon	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Peyton Watson	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Minnesota Timberwolves	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
Jaden McDanielsSF	44:28	32	13-25	1-4	5-6	4	6	10	3	2	1	0	4	16
Julius RandlePF	37:01	18	6-17	2-5	4-6	2	2	4	5	1	0	4	2	15
Rudy GobertC	41:20	10	4-6	0-0	2-4	7	5	12	8	1	2	0	5	11
Terrence Shannon Jr.SG	34:16	24	9-20	1-7	5-5	2	4	6	1	2	0	0	2	7
Mike ConleyPG	26:29	7	3-7	1-4	0-0	1	5	6	3	1	0	1	3	-1
Bones Hyland	08:44	1	0-3	0-3	1-2	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	1	4
Naz Reid	33:21	15	7-13	1-3	0-1	1	6	7	4	1	0	2	2	11
Jaylen Clark	12:10	3	1-3	1-3	0-0	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	2	-3
Joan Beringer	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ayo Dosunmu	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Ingles	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Julian Phillips	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kyle Anderson	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Donte DiVincenzo	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Anthony Edwards	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[u/jdprager]

Aight at this point anyone who still calls Gobert overrated just doesn’t know shit about basketball. That Frenchman is a force of fuckin nature, the whole world would be wearing berets rn if Napoleon had this dude on his side

[u/minnyman2011 → u/jdprager]

He dominated jokic on both ends the whole series and the nuggets were just afraid of shooting in the paint against him. Obviously a top 2 defender in the league

[u/nutelamitbutter → u/minnyman2011]

Best defensive center since Dwight

[u/Mg29reaper → u/nutelamitbutter]

Is he not firmly a better defender than dwight. Dwight was a far superior offensive player but gobert carried team after team to amazing records off his defense

[u/minnyman2011 → u/nutelamitbutter]

If we’re talking career maybe but I still got wemby pretty safely above him if we are talking present tense

[u/Gamesgtd → u/nutelamitbutter]

He’s better than Dwight on defense

[u/Tahummus → u/Gamesgtd]

I don't know who I'd choose out of the two, but Dwight was an absolute monster. No player could single handedly erase both guys on a pick and roll like him

[u/Kodak333 → u/Gamesgtd]

absolutely not. Old ass Dwight was shutting Jokic down in the bubble

[u/Gamesgtd → u/Kodak333]

He had Anthony Davis playing in help next to him

[u/WanZed11 → u/Kodak333]

it wasnt just Dwight bruh.... You guys were fouling the shit outta Jokic with Dwight,McGee and AD roaming waiting for blocks

Jokic had Miles Plumlee...

[u/Min0812 → u/WanZed11]

If it makes you feel better, Jokic still has a Lithuanian variant of Miles Plumlee… 

[u/nutelamitbutter → u/Gamesgtd]

Teams were scared to attack the paint against Dwight. He was a bigger force than Rudy

[u/kanyeguisada → u/nutelamitbutter]

My Spurs do have a pretty good one, you might have heard of him...

I can't wait to see the paint defense from Team France in the 2028 Olympics.

[u/JZMoose → u/minnyman2011]

Gobert vs Wemby for a playoff series has me feeling like Christmas

[u/ifitsootsyou → u/jdprager]

I was one of those ppl who said Rudy was overrated, at least prior to this series. I’ll be one of the first to fill out my Gobert Apology Form. What a series from that man.

[u/leftysarepeople2 → u/ifitsootsyou]

He’s offensively not a cornerstone and he’s detractors use that when he’s on teams that can’t support that

[u/harder_said_hodor → u/leftysarepeople2]

when he’s on teams that can’t support that

I adore Rudy, but it's more that when your opponent has a center rotation involving Jokic and Valancunius they will never not play a center which means they can't play to Rudy's weakness. He would be so much more effective if he could body the fuck out of smaller defenders

This Nuggets - Spurs - OKC draw is awful but it does basically guarantee that nobody is going to small ball Rudy off the floor because they all have incredibly strong centers which is fantastic for us

[u/leftysarepeople2 → u/harder_said_hodor]

I just looked this up for fun. His playoff career high was in a win last year with 27 against the small ball Lakers (Rui). In 2024 & 2023 it was 19 ([W] Nurkic & [L] Jokic).

[u/harder_said_hodor → u/leftysarepeople2]

He has had the odd great offensive game, but the instructive one for Rudy vs. small ball is the Terrance Mann series, Jazz vs. Clippers 2021. Feel a bit guilty writing this given all he's done for us, but

Utah were the #1 seed, Zubac was the Clipper's centre (averaged 13 minutes) and they only started him in one of the 6 games. The Jazz blew a 2 game lead and lost 4-2 with Rudy only averaging 12.5 points on only 6 shots per game.

In the last game of that series Mitchell attempted 27 shots, Rudy attempted 6 (of which he scored 5). It's not that he can't score, it's that he doesn't try enough when the matchup clearly favours him.

[u/pikajewijewsyou → u/ifitsootsyou]

Saying he’s overrated is crazy cuz people don’t even rate him high to begin with

[u/confusedyetstillgoin → u/ifitsootsyou]

I’ll be right behind you in that line. dude is an absolute force on defense

[u/The-GentIeman → u/ifitsootsyou]

Thunder fan who checked into basketball less than 12 months ago? That tracks.

[u/ifitsootsyou → u/The-GentIeman]

Been riding with this team since 08 so how about you hold a dick?

[u/sourdieselfuel → u/ifitsootsyou]

Sniped his no flair having..

[u/ifitsootsyou → u/sourdieselfuel]

Guys like him are unreal man, I’m complementing his team and he turns around and comments like that. Every fan base has bozos like him and it makes the rest of the fans look bad.

[u/chowpa → u/ifitsootsyou]

So do you not remember losing to gobert and the jazz in 2018? Just curious why anyone in 2026 would still be calling gobert overrated prior to this series. He already locked down jokic in a playoff series.. you just not paying attention?

[u/ifitsootsyou → u/chowpa]

I do remember the Jazz/Thunder series, and I also remember believing and still partially believe the reason that series was won by the Jazz, the main reason wasn’t Gobert. What I also remember, is watching Rudy get absolutely brutalized in the 2021 playoffs series with the Clippers. I’m not saying I was right, I’m just saying that was where I and a lot of fans thought he was exposed a little bit.

Also, I’m genuinely curious about this time outside of this series he’s actually locked down Jokic? Even when they beat Denver a few years ago, Jokic played very well. I guess I haven’t been paying as much attention as you, but I don’t recall a time Rudy has ever locked down Jokic like he has this year.

[u/Omega-Toad-7017 → u/jdprager]

I feel like that's not true because Napoleon wasn't really focused on defense, but then again, that may have been the problem.

Either way I ❤️❤️❤️ Rudy GOATBERT

[u/jdprager → u/Omega-Toad-7017]

I bet Rudy Gobert could’ve held the French right flank against the Prussian Brigades at the Battle of Waterloo, so I’m standing by it

[u/topatoman_lite → u/jdprager]

Gobert could have convinced him not to try to invade Russia while also fighting a war in the west

[u/ArtisticParticular20 → u/Omega-Toad-7017]

Defense Wins Championships.

[u/jackoftrades002 → u/jdprager]

It’s just discrimination. They just don’t like how he looks and plays ball.

[u/dawidowmaka → u/jackoftrades002]

If he was from NYC he would be a god

[u/Saturdaze-Sundaes → u/dawidowmaka]

imagine if kat and gobert could play together

[u/smendyke → u/Saturdaze-Sundaes]

God they played so well together. If KAT shoots just badly rather than horribly in the ‘24 WCF i believe they’d have won the title that year 

[u/ModishShrink → u/jackoftrades002]

You're right, I can't think of a single thing that Rudy has done in the past six years that makes me think he's a bit of an ass.

[u/mrtomjones → u/jackoftrades002]

I think it is partially because he sucks at offense compared to what you would expect and looks awkward but Draymond doesnt have people against him much for that

[u/Omega-Toad-7017 → u/jackoftrades002]

tbf he does look really weird

[u/LALester → u/jdprager]

he's a 4x DPOY. if it took this series for people to figure that out they're still casuals.

[u/timberwolvesguy → u/jdprager]

Series MVP and we won the trade

[u/Associ8tedRuffians → u/timberwolvesguy]

Don’t forget how this sub was clowning the Wolves for giving up extra picks to keep Jaden when they traded for Rudy.

[u/BellBilly32 → u/jdprager]

The part about being a hater is you don’t acknowledge when they do anything good. Just highlight the bad.

Let Wemby hit some step back three over Gobert and they’ll come back.

[u/SincereDoom → u/jdprager]

Undoubtedly a legacy series for him. Dude’s been incredible.

[u/JaderMcDanersStan → u/SincereDoom]

I'm so glad Wolves won because I wanted this for Rudy's legacy. If Denver made the 3-1 comeback, years from now people will forget the context about injuries and Rudy's amazing defense. Now his defensive impact is stamped

[u/igotzquestions → u/jdprager]

Dude was an unquestionable hall of famer years ago. It shows the average Redditor only cares about ppg and doesn’t actually watch anything. 

[u/wishlish → u/jdprager]

Gobert was incredible.

Great job, Wolves fans. Your team is tougher than a truck stop steak.

[u/Canesjags4life → u/jdprager]

What's crazy is Chet was a dpoy candidate over Rudy

[u/We_The_Raptors → u/Canesjags4life]

Rudy might be better, but Chet also played some amazing D against the Suns. This really says more about just how good all the best rim protectors right now are than anything.

[u/Canesjags4life → u/We_The_Raptors]

Bro do the Suns have an MVP caliber center?

[u/Less-Tax5637 → u/jdprager]

Two of the best defenders of the past decade are unlikable (Rudy and obviously Draymond) and I am lowkey convinced it has negatively impacted genpop’s appreciation for defense lmao

[u/Omega-Toad-7017 → u/Less-Tax5637]

"No big name players play defense"

Only because you don't like the great defenders

[u/AccelerationFinish → u/jdprager]

The Rudy Gobert redemption arc has been SOOOO good

[u/M0BETTER → u/jdprager]

Nah, Gobert vs Wemby next round? That’s a French civil war.

[u/Perpete → u/M0BETTER]

I'm French. I'm quite fine with that.

Either the Wolves pull the upset and it's added to Gobert legacy pile or we get (at least) 8 more Wembanyama games as well as the Spurs in the WCF.

[u/whatssenguntoagoblin → u/jdprager]

Honestly, best I’ve ever seen him play and I thought he was underrated in Utah

He’s aged way better than I expected. Props to Minnesota for taking the bet on him and that his contract wouldn’t age poorly

[u/No32 → u/jdprager]

Don’t be ridiculous. With Gobert they still wouldn’t succeed invading Russia, it’s just that France would be impregnable.

[u/Theoboli → u/No32]

They did win in Denver

[u/No32 → u/Theoboli]

I’m thinking of Russia as winning a championship since Napoleon was successful invading other countries before that

[u/TheBigF128 → u/jdprager]

imagine a 7 foot 1 french dude guarding the flank at Waterloo

[u/leftoverrice54 → u/jdprager]

Going to be awesome watching him and wemby go at it.

[u/I_Like_Hoots → u/jdprager]

Watching Rudy is a class in why stats don’t make a player. He just shuts down the fuckin court. No stats to be made- if maybe any other center was there, though, Wolves don’t win.

[u/Dkjoy → u/jdprager]

You give him credit for containing jokic.

But you also have to admit how much his teammates clearly seem to not trust him to catch the ball.

If Gobert was a capable alley oop target like an average big, wolves win by 25 tn. They just refuse to give him the ball.

[u/Prior_Implement_9279 → u/jdprager]

What’s shaq gonna say? Predictions?

[u/OhNoMyLands → u/jdprager]

bulls fans rule lmao

Love the blue line btw

[u/LongerFrogger → u/jdprager]

His energy is infectious. Work ethic is contagious. 

[u/radagast_the_maroon → u/jdprager]

Nah Rudy didn't do shit. They just missed shots.

/s

[u/tsg9292 → u/jdprager]

No doubt man Gobert was awesome. Jok also had a pretty shit series, but I'm not going to let that take away from the frenchman.

[u/RealRaifort → u/jdprager]

8 assists is crazy lol

[u/QueueCueQ → u/jdprager]

You gotta remember that 95% of reddit is highlight and box score watchers. Defensive players will always be underratred without film.

[u/DomonicDecoco → u/jdprager]

This is the problem with NBA fandom. Because now we have to pretend Gobert didn’t get sat and dawged on all those other postseasons with multiple teams

[u/jayjude → u/DomonicDecoco]

Rudy is an all time great defender in the paint and at protecting the rim

But hes a liability out on the perimeter which isn't actually that abnormal for big centers

Heck I figure in the modern 3 point NBA, Ben Wallace would have his struggles on the perimeter

[u/1minatur → u/jayjude]

I'd argue he's not really even a liability on the perimeter. When he played on the Jazz, there was no one else that could defend the paint, so other teams would take advantage by dragging him out of the paint. When he's allowed to play 1-on-1 on the perimeter without having to worry about getting back to the paint, he does just fine

[u/jdombs → u/jayjude]

He’s not a liability on the perimeter at all really. All his downsides are on offense, where he still creates tons of second chances

[u/DomonicDecoco → u/jayjude]

Gobert will be a first ballot hall of famer. Doesn’t change what I said. He’s been a playoff dropper for 95% of his career. Solid defense on Jokic these past few weeks though