By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
In addition to a convincing win, the Minnesota Timberwolves enjoyed Rudy Gobert back in action on NBA Sundays.
After sitting out the previous ten games of 2024-25 Regular Season due to low back injury management, the 32-year-old French center logged nearly 20 minutes as the starting center, contributing 16 points with 7/8 two-pointers, eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists in a win, 141-124, against the San Antonio Spurs in Target Center.
“It’s really hard for me to not be out there,” he described his absence over the last three weeks, “I had to make sure I came back and be able to come back strong, not come back too early and be out again.”
“I wouldn’t play if I wasn’t feeling I could be myself,” he noted, “Playing with pain is part of the game, right, but there is pain and pain. There is the pain that keeps you from moving, is underlying and can get worse, and there is the pain that it’s only getting better from here. Right now, I feel like I’m strong, I’m balanced, and I could move how I need to move and be myself. It was a good time for me to come back, and I’m happy today went great.”
Securing a fifth straight win, the team coached by Chris Finch improved to 37-29, amid a battle for a direct berth in the 2025 Playoffs.
“I think I just got to be myself. Be great at what I do, offensive and defensively,” Gobert focused on the bottom end of the Regular Season in a media session following the game on Sunday.
Cleared from a left ankle sprain, Bosnian Luka Garza paired four points with one rebound over two minutes. Dutch Jesse Edwards was on assignment with G League affiliate Iowa Wolves.
Coming off the bench for the Spurs, Georgian Sandro Mamukelashvili had eight points, three rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Fellow reserve, Polish Jeremy Sochan recorded five points, three rebounds, and one steal. French Victor Wembanyama (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis) remained out.