Wolves’ Game 6 win can’t stop Draymond Green’s strange fixation with Rudy Gobert

Whether the Timberwolves win or lose, you can count on Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green – who is on his couch watching the playoffs for weeks – continuing his bizarre fixation with the team’s defensive player. Rudy Gobert year.

Green attacked Gobert on TNT after the Timberwolves lost to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. Nikola Jokic scored 40 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds without even recording a turnover in a 112-97 win over the Wolves, with Green calling out Gobert, who he said needed to come out and make a stop.

Apparently, at that point, Green didn’t realize the Timberwolves didn’t primarily match Gobert over Jokic. It’s a matchup usually reserved for compatriot Karl-Anthony Towns. Obviously, he found out about it after the Timberwolves’ blowout Game 6 win over the Nuggets in which the Timberwolves held Jokic to 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

So did Green think about giving Gobert or Towns flowers for this performance?

No.

“We’re sitting here breaking down KAT and having to stop Joker, who is a center. And a defensive player of the year is on your team, and he’s a center,” Green said on Draymond’s green show Friday. “Very interesting to see how the cookie crumbles.”

Green compared the situation to having Marcus Smart, who won the Defensive Player of the Year award with the Boston Celtics in 2021-22, and instead asking Jaylen Brown to guard the Warriors superstar Steph Curry. Leaders should keep leaders. Maybe there was a better example, like having a team with Draymond Green and having Andre Iguodala guard LeBron James.

“I love the game within the game more than anything,” Green said on his podcast. “When I watch these games, I watch the game within the game. And I can’t help but notice that there was a center that won Defensive Player of the Year and we asked KAT to go guard center.

Green obviously doesn’t watch the game too closely. If he did, he would understand how valuable it is for Towns to guard Jokic to keep Gobert in position to cut off running lanes on the weak side, and of course he would be willing to help Towns on Jokic. For reference, see game 6.

And it may be a novel idea, but Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and his staff, who coached the team that had the highest-ranked defense in the entire league, might have reason to pit Towns against Jokic. As they say, there may be a method behind this madness.

Meanwhile, Gobert was +30 in Thursday night’s blowout win. This ensures that the Wolves and Gobert will see the court again on Sunday for Game 7 against the Nuggets. Where will Green be? Oh yeah, on his couch. Or maybe he’ll return to TNT to talk about Gobert, who will be considered the best defensive player of this generation.