Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green didn’t hold back in his assessment of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert’s defense against Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic.
Green’s remarks came after Jokic’s spectacular 40-point performance led the Nuggets to a convincing 112-97 victory over the Timberwolves in Game 5 of their playoff series.
Despite Gobert’s reputation as a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, Jokic dominated the matchup, showcasing his MVP-caliber skills with 13 assists and zero turnovers.
Green’s comments on Inside the NBA highlighted Jokic’s ability to exploit Gobert’s defensive weaknesses, suggesting that the Nuggets star “embarrassed the hell out of Rudy Gobert” throughout the game.
“What Joker showed tonight is that he doesn’t feel Rudy Gobert,” Green said. “He just backed up, backed him down, backed him down, left hand, right hand, step this way, step that way, float this way. He showed to night that he didn’t feel him.
“He had 30 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and zero turnovers. I’d love to see what his usage rate was tonight. I had no turnovers and 40 points on 22 shots. I didn’t feel you the entire night.
“And yes it was personal. Yes, Rudy Gobert and those guys came out and played great defensively in those first two games in Denver and Denver came back home and wanted to show that that wasn’t real, we are who we said we are. And he embarrassed the hell out of Rudy Gobert.”
The beef between Green and Gobert adds another layer of intrigue to Green’s critique, with tensions between the two players dating back several years.
As the series heads back to Minnesota for Game 6, Gobert and the Timberwolves will look to regroup and find ways to contain Jokic to keep their postseason hopes alive.
