MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Timberwolves are fired up for the postseason.
Whether they have enough depth and maturity to stay awhile is to be determined.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was sent home after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during an argument on the bench in the second quarter Sunday against New Orleans, shortly after ace defender Jaden McDaniels put his availability in doubt by hitting a wall out of frustration.
“This is probably one of the grittier wins I think anyone will ever be a part of. The things we went through in today’s game are not normal. Hit after hit, we just found a way to lean on each other,” point guard Mike Conley said. “The most important thing is we could have easily splintered. Whether it was Kyle and Rudy or hearing news about Jaden, it was one hit after another, but it just brought more out of us. We dug down deep.”
Gobert sent a group-text apology to the team, Conley said. Coach Chris Finch declined to speculate about potential punishment for Gobert, who was playing with back spasms after being listed as questionable.
Anderson, a fiery but respected leader who has given the Wolves a big boost with his versatility and experience in his first season with the team, engaged in a heated discussion with Gobert about one of the many sequences that had gone wrong to that point while the team was in a huddle during a timeout late in the second quarter.
Gobert then ended the argument by raising his arm to strike Anderson in the upper chest with his hand, before the two were separated and Gobert was taken back to the locker room. Taurean Price also reacted to Gobert’s swing by jumping out of his seat to give Gobert a shove.
“I think tempers just flared,” Anderson said afterward. “That’s all.”
Anderson said he didn’t think the two would have trouble getting along moving forward.
“We want to win games. It is what it is. It ain’t the first time someone has swung on me,” he said.
President of basketball operations Tim Connelly issued a statement confirming the Timberwolves decided to send Gobert home after the second quarter flap.
“His behavior on the bench was unacceptable, and we will handle the situation internally,” said Connelly, whose first big move on the job last summer was to acquire Gobert from Utah in a blockbuster trade that sent five first-round draft picks including 2022 selection Walker Kessler and two other players to the Jazz.
The Wolves beat the Pelicans 113-108 to finish in eighth place in the Western Conference and draw a play-in tournament matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers by moving ahead of New Orleans in the standings.
They were headed to a loss and the lower seed with a lifeless first half.
