On April 10, Beijing time, the NBA regular season ushered in the closing day. With the Lakers defeating the Jazz and the Timberwolves defeating the Pelicans, the Lakers finished 7th in the West and the Timberwolves 8th in the West, and the two teams will meet in the playoffs.
However, while the Timberwolves won today, the team was in crisis. During the final 2 quarters of today's match, Gobert and Anderson had an argument, and then Gobert punched Anderson in the face, Anderson was very dissatisfied and wanted to come forward to theorize, but fortunately was pulled away in time by the staff and teammates. The Timberwolves handled the matter by forcing Gobert out of the game and Anderson starting the second half in place.
Commenting on the matter, Timberwolves president Connelly said: "Gobert's behavior is unacceptable, we decided to let him go home and we will decide to deal with the matter internally. ”
Timberwolves legend Garnett tweeted: "Before the playoffs begin, there is nothing more nervous than a slight scuffle to get the Timberwolves to play well. ”
As a 10-for-1 superstar last summer, Gobert has not had a satisfactory season. He averaged 13.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocks per game this season. Scoring is the second-lowest in nearly seven seasons, with rebounds, shooting percentage (65.9%) and free throw percentage (66.2%) at a new five-season low, and the lowest in blocks except for rookie season. Ironically, Anderson is the player who has given Gobert the most assists this season (59), followed by Russell, who has left the team (50).
The Timberwolves' troubles don't stop at Gobert and Anderson's infighting. During the game, Timberwolf McDaniels angrily hit the wall, causing a right hand injury to withdraw from the game. In today's game, he played only nine minutes and did not score a single point. Throughout the season, as a starter for the Timberwolves, he averaged 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 steals and 1 block per game. According to Shams, McDaniels was diagnosed with a fracture of his right hand.
In the play-off game between the Lakers and the Timberwolves, the Lakers will have home-court advantage.