By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Rudy Gobert blamed himself for the Utah Jazz’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday evening. He indeed left D’Angelo Russell with no opponent only inches away from the game-winning bucket.
“If I don’t f… up the last play defensively, we end with a win,” he admitted after the 2020-21 NBA Regular Season game, “It’s totally on me. (Conley) was already out there. We switched. I should have recognized that. He did what he was supposed to do and I didn’t. So, 200% on me. It’s one of those plays, when you watch a replay, you just feel dumb.”
Surely an uncommon situation for the 2018 and 2019 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and among the leading candidates for the 2021 award. His take on the play following a timeout seemed accurate enough. The Jazz missed the chance to answer in the remaining 4.2 seconds with Mike Conley committing a turnover.
Gobert, 28, is averaging 14.4 points, 13.6 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, and 1.3 assists per contest in his eighth NBA season. His side became the first to clinch a playoff berth on Sunday before suffering a three-game regular-season sweep by the Timberwolves and falling to 44-17.
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