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The Minnesota Timberwolves benched center Rudy Gobert in an important regular-season finale after he threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Video shows Anderson and Gobert having a heated discussion during a timeout of the close game. As a Timberwolves staffer tried to hold Gobert back, he broke free and threw a punch at Anderson’s left shoulder.
“Rudy Gobert is OUT for the remainder of tonight’s game,” the Timberwolves tweeted shortly after the altercation.
Gobert apologized on Twitter.
Depending on the outcome of other Western Conference games, the Timberwolves entered Sunday’s game with a chance to finish as the seventh, eighth or ninth seed. They were headed for the play-in game tournament no matter what.
Minnesota ended up beating the Pelicans 113-108 and finished No. 8 in the West.
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The Timberwolves traded for Gobert in July, and there has been much scrutiny on the deal. The Timberwolves sent 2022 first-round pick Walker Kessler and four future first-round picks to Utah in the deal. Karl-Anthony Towns missed a chunk of the season with an injury, and the Timberwolves struggled to mesh.
However, the Timberwolves improved defensively and had the league’s 11th-best defense before Sunday’s game.
Gobert wasn’t the only one who threw a punch that turned into another problem for the Timberwolves. Jaden McDaniels punched an inanimate object in the Timberwolves’ tunnel, injuring his right hand. Minnesota ruled him out for the remainder of the game, and he was seen covering his hand with a towel. The Timberwolves fear McDaniels fractured his hand.
Earlier this season, Golden State’s Draymond Green punched teammate Jordan Poole during a preseason practice. Video of that was leaked. However, the Gobert incident happened during a game with cameras on the Timberwolves huddle.
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