Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal has never been the biggest fan of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, but even he had to admit Gobert was “dominating” the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Shaq still wasn’t exactly happy to say it, though.
“I never thought I would say these words that are about to come out of my mouth,” he said during TNT’s Inside the NBA halftime show, while pretending to retch. “But Rudy Gobert is dominating. Roll the tape. Rudy Gobert is dominating. I’m happy for him. See me and (Charles Barkley) always say Minnesota needs to take him out because they don’t use him offensively. … I hate to say it Ernie (Johnson), Kenny (Smith), Chuck, Rudy Gobert is dominating.
Gobert started red hot with nine first-quarter points, and he had 15 of his team-high 27 points in the opening 24 minutes as the Wolves led 59-49 at the halftime break. Little did Shaq know then it was only the beginning for the Frenchman. Gobert exploited his size advantage over the Lakers, who turned away from 7-foot center Jaxson Hayes in favor of 6-foot-7 Dorian Finney-Smith, all night. Gobert added 24 rebounds, powering the Wolves to a 103-96 closeout victory.
If that’s not enough, Gobert also had a pair of blocks, including a key stuff of Jarred Vanderbilt late in the fourth quarter.
“Superman was in the building,” Smith said on TNT’s postgame show.
“Rudy Gobert would’ve killed you,” Barkley added, directing the comment at Shaq. “He would’ve dunked on your head. He would’ve ate you up tonight. He would’ve been blocking your shot and dunking on your head on the other end.
Shaq may not like to say it, but there’s no denying Gobert’s masterclass Wednesday night. It directly led to Wolves in five.
