"Now see Nurkic has basketball skills, unlike Giannis", "Nurk heard y'all talking s**t saying he's not a top 10 center in the NBA" - Fans react to Jusuf Nurkic posting up and scoring on Rudy Gobert
In a massive upset, Jusuf Nurkic led Bosnia and Herzegovina to victory over Rudy Gobert and France. Bosnia and Herzegovina won 96-90 in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
The Portland Trail Blazers Nurkic logged a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds in the winning effort. John Roberson scored 18 points, shooting 4 out of 9 from three-point range.
New York Knicks' Evan Fournier led France in scoring with 24 points. The Minnesota Timberwolves Rudy Gobert finished with a 10-point and 14-rebound double-double.
The game went into double-overtime, with B&H and France tied at 76 at the end of regulation and at 83 at the end of the first overtime. In OT2, B&H outscored France 13-7. B&H took an early lead in the game, leading by 18 with three minutes left in the first quarter, as France chased back and led at halftime.
With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Jusuf Nurkic posted up Gobert on a possession. He backed up Gobert in the low-post and sunk a hook shot. This basket was followed up by Nurkic taunting Gobert as B&H expanded their lead to 7.
r/NBA reacted to the play, sending in hilarious responses.
Rudy Gobert's fit with the Minnesota Timberwolves
Following a blockbuster trade, Rudy Gobert will be the starting center in Minneapolis.
Bleacher Reports projects the Timberwolves starting lineup as D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Karl Anthony-Towns and Rudy Gobert.
Despite being in the top half of the league in defensive rating, the Timberwolves had several lapses, which Gobert can cover up.
Karl Anthony-Towns, who is more of a four than a five, was top-ten among centers in defensive-rebounding last season. However, the only other formidable rebounder for the Wolves was Jarred Vanderbilt, logging 5.5 defensive rebounds per game.
This lack of rebounding put the Timberwolves in the bottom five in defensive rebounding percentage last season, giving up nearly 30% of their DREBs.
On the other end of the spectrum lies the Utah Jazz. They were top five in defensive rebounding in 2021-22, with Gobert being the primary contributor. He was second only to Nikola Jokic in rebounding last season.
Although this is just one aspect of a defensively-stacked front-court, Gobert fits in for another crucial reason. Minnesota won't ask of him what the Jazz did. Gobert was the second option in Utah. However, with the Wolves, Gobert is perhaps the third or fourth option on offense.