Rudy Gobert masterclass leads Timberwolves to 4-1 series win over Lakers

Rudy Gobert came through for the Minnesota Timberwolves when they needed it most.

On a night the Timberwolves couldn't buy a shot from 3-point range, when starters were in foul trouble early and the Los Angeles Lakers were playing with desperation facing elimination in their first-round Western Conference playoff series, Gobert was the most dominant player on the floor. He led the Wolves to a hot start, helped them withstand a push from the Lakers and eventually pull away for a 103-96 victory in a closeout Game 5 victory Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Gobert scored just 14 points in the first four games of the series combined, but Wednesday night, he had nine by the end of the opening frame. And he just never slowed down, exploiting his size advantage over the small-ball Lakers and scoring a team-high 27 points while grabbing a whopping 24 rebounds. Los Angeles, which started Dorian Finney-Smith over Jaxson Hayes, never had an answer as Gobert's teammates found him time and again for wide-open dunks and layups.

It was truly a masterful performance from the big man, and it couldn't have come at a more critical time as shots simply weren't falling. They shot just 7 for 47 from 3-point range (15%). Anthony Edwards was 0 for 11 from deep. Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels were in foul trouble early. Donte DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker shot a combined 6 for 24.

None of that ultimately mattered as Gobert pummeled the Lakers in the paint. He was flying in for putback dunks, finding the ball in his hands as he was wide open rolling to the rim and drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line. He led a dominant effort on the offensive glass that was critical, even if they missed four 3s on a single first-quarter possession.

Gobert was aggressive with an even greater size advantage Wednesday night as Lakers coach JJ Redick benched Hayes in favor of Finney-Smith, who had already been playing the starter's share of minutes. Hayes didn't even see the court, but his 7-foot frame, even in limited minutes, matched up better on him at the starts of games than the 6-foot-7 Finney-Smith. Gobert was ready to take advantage and was aggressive early, scoring four of Minnesota's first six points of the game.

Defensively, well, Gobert was Gobert. He had a pair of blocks, including a key stuff of Jarred Vanderbilt down the stretch when the Wolves were up just one in the fourth quarter. He had a hand in Luka Doncic's face when Doncic missed a 3 that could have tied the game. The Lakers weren't going to go down quietly, and they even led 88-87 late in the fourth quarter.

But Minnesota stormed back with a 6-0 run that included a pair of free throws from McDaniels, a putback dunk from Gobert and a floater from Randle. The Lakers called a timeout, and LeBron James did hit a 3, but they never led again.

Behind Gobert's nine first-quarter points, the Wolves jumped ahead by as many as 14 in that opening frame, but the Lakers closed the quarter strong and started the second hot, using a 15-5 run to narrow the gap. The Wolves stretched it back to a 10-point lead at the halftime break, but it was a back-and-forth battle from then on that went down to the wire.

It was a physical fight between the two teams. DiVincenzo took an elbow to the face from Austin Reaves during the second quarter; Doncic appeared to injure his back after taking a hard foul from DiVincenzo and Gobert in the same frame; and James looked like he tweaked his knee early in the fourth quarter. All three of them fought until the finish.

Doncic scored a game-high 28 points and had nine assists and seven rebounds, keeping the Lakers in it, even if he didn't look quite right after briefly exiting with the back issue in the second quarter. Rui Hachimura scored 23, and James posted 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Doncic and James each played 40 minutes despite injury scares.

Randle, who made a critcal layup after the Lakers cut it to two in the waning minutes, had 23 points on efficient 8-for-16 shooting in a break from his ice-cold teammates, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Edwards flirted with a triple-double, recording 15 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, and he didn't have a single turnover, though he did shoot just 5 for 19 from the field. Alexander-Walker added 10 points and three assists off the bench for the Wolves.

With the 4-1 series victory, the Timberwolves will advance to the Western Conference semifinals, where they'll face the winner of the series between the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. The Warriors currently lead the series 3-2.