'Rudy was the dragon': Gobert, Julius Randle rewriting playoff narratives

The Timberwolves bigs played key roles in their 4-1 series win over the Lakers.

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) and forward Julius Randle against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center in Phoenix on Jan. 29, 2025. / Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images

The prevailing narrative was that Julius Randle is a disappointment in the playoffs. No matter how many Defensive Player of the Year Awards Rudy Gobert won, he remained constant target of criticism from most well-known NBA commentators.

But as the Minnesota Timberwolves closed out a 4-1 series victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the two are making their doubters eat their words, or in Gobert's case, making Shaq literally choke on his. Randle played a critical role throughout the series, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while defending LeBron James, while Gobert came through with a 27-point, 24-rebound masterclass in the closeout Game 5.

"Listen, Rudy's a winner at the highest level. He drives winning," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch told reporters after Wednesday night's Game 5. "You can not like who he is, how he does it, what he looks like, et cetera. When you have this guy on your team, you understand what a professional and what a winner is, and he's just such a competitor as well. ...

"I'd also just like to say that Julius Randle was absolutely huge in this series. Another guy who's had a lot of unfair criticism in his career, and he was outstanding on both ends of the floor. We don't win this series without Julius, who was consistently great every single night, just doing a lot of little things as well as timely things."

Injuries have limited Randle in previous postseasons, including last season with the New York Knicks when he was forced to watch from the sidelines due to a shoulder injury. In 15 playoff games during two runs in New York, Randle averaged 17.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting just 34% from the field and 25% from 3-point range.

Rather than the injuries that cost him opportunities in previous playoff runs, the narrative entering the series against the Lakers was his past struggles. His response was emphatic as a dominant scoring and paint presence while also being incredibly efficient, shooting 48% from the field and 39% from 3. Anthony Edwards even told him he needs to shoot more.

"We have a lot of guys that are underdogs," Gobert said. "They've been underappreciated in their careers. I'm thinking guys like Julius, for example, Mike Conley, obviously Ant is a young superstar that still has a lot to prove, but we have a bunch of guys that have never had anything handed to them."

Related: 5 things that stood out from Timberwolves' 4-1 series win over Lakers

Gobert has been constantly criticized, even in times like last season when he was the anchor for Minnesota's top-ranked defense, won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award and helped the Wolves reach the Western Conference finals. The narrative entering the Lakers series was that their small-ball lineups would play him off the floor. In the first two games of the series, Los Angeles attacked him, forcing him to switch onto Luka Doncic. While the Lakers won Game 2, Doncic shot just 1 for 4 when defended by Gobert, turning it over twice. Needless to say, L.A. abandoned that strategy.

"That's what I love to do," Gobert said. "That's what I live for: guarding the best players in the world."

Despite being limited by the Lakers early offensively, Gobert felt it was only a matter of time before he'd break through. He could feel them wearing down, knowing they couldn't keep him off the glass forever. In Game 4, Gobert felt he was in good position, but the ball just wasn't bouncing his way. The ball found his hands in Game 5 en route to 27 points and 24 boards.

"Rudy played phenomenal, man. He played almost 40 minutes tonight. Twelve for 15 from the field. Yeah, we can't ask nothing — he had 24 rebounds," Edwards said after Game 5, turning towards Randle next to him at the podium. "He was a dragon tonight. Rudy was the dragon. Yeah, he was the dragon tonight, for sure."

Randle, meanwhile, continued to do his thing in Game 5, including getting to the rim for a critical layup late when the Wolves were up just two. He finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. His first assist was feeding Gobert for a layup in the opening minutes of the game, and his fourth was a dish to the dragon for a dunk during the third quarter.

"I think that we both want to win," Gobert said of his chemistry with Randle. "We both want to win and we both work our a** off every single day to get to that goal that we both — neither of us have accomplished yet. And we want to see each other win. I was saying to Julius after the game, 'You've gotten a lot of disrespect your whole career, and so do I.' So it's a good opportunity for us to write our own narrative, and winning does that."