Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert joins Shaq, Wilt, NBA legends in domination of Lakers

Rudy Gobert’s ability as a scorer has always been an easy target for his critics. He silenced them all, at least on Wednesday night, when the Minnesota Timberwolves star big man lit up the Los Angeles Lakers with a memorable performance to help his team secure a series-clinching 103-96 win in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs over LeBron James and the Lakers.

The 32-year-old Gobert scored just 13 points in the first four games of the Lakers series but in Game 5, he seemingly morphed into a different player — offensively.

Gobert finished the contest with 27 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field while pulling down 24 rebounds and swatting away two shots in 39 minutes. So good was Gobert in that game that he joined an extremely exclusive group of players in NBA history.

With his performance in Game 5, the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner became the latest player to score at least 25 points, secure 20 rebounds and shoot 75 percent or better from the floor in an NBA Playoffs game, according to StatMuse.

Among the other players in the group are Basketball Hall of Famers in Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone and Wes Unseld.

Gobert did what he should have done in the previous games in the Lakers series, which was to take advantage of Los Angeles’ weakened interior defense. Trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks before last February’s deadline meant that the Lakers lost an all-world defender inside, and that was illuminated in full by Gobert on Wednesday, as he dominated the glass on the defensive end and wreaked havoc in the shaded area on the offensive side of the floor.

Also coming through for Minnesota in Game 5 was Julius Randle, who scored 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting while Anthony Edwards had 15 points on 5-for-19 shooting.

The Timberwolves now turn their attention to the other series between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets, the winner of which will face Minnesota in the second round.