Rudy Gobert Holds Himself to High Standard After Rough Stretch

Center Rudy Gobert has not made a field goal in his last two games, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have lost both of them.

After a 3-0 start, Minnesota fell in overtime in Cleveland on Monday and then lost 119-114 at home to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, and Gobert went a combined 0 for 13 from the field across those two nights.

Gobert went 0 for 9 in Cleveland, which Bring Me The Sports called the worst shooting game of his career, even though he still grabbed 20 rebounds.

He followed that by going 0 for 4 against Golden State, and after practice on Thursday he put the misses on himself, according to Will Ragatz of Bring Me The Sports.

"Just a rough couple days, man. Rough couple days. A lot of things that I gotta finish and I didn't finish. Just gotta keep putting in the work and finishing strong, especially around the rim. That's really important for our team and I hold myself to the highest standard for that. Definitely gotta be better," Gobert said.

I like that answer, since it had no excuses.

Gobert is averaging 12.2 rebounds this season, so he is still doing the dirty work, but the Wolves need his finishing more than ever right now.

Teams are going to load up on the guards, and easy points around the rim for Gobert are one of the simplest ways to fight back.

The timing makes this even bigger, since shooting guard Anthony Edwards had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee at Mayo Clinic on Thursday morning, and KSTP reported that he is expected to miss around two months.

Edwards was averaging 33.3 points in four games, and Wednesday's loss was the first look at this team without him.

That game showed the problem, as Golden State built a 24-point lead before the Wolves came back in the fourth quarter behind power forward Jaden McDaniels and power forward Jonathan Kuminga, who led Minnesota with 20 points.

Point guard LaMelo Ball had a rough night and later pointed to what the team was missing, while head coach Chris Finch said the group needs more rhythm on offense.

With Edwards out, the Wolves cannot afford for a starter to go two games without a field goal, and if Gobert gets back to finishing the chances that come to him, it takes pressure off Ball and the rest of the group.

Minnesota hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday at 8 PM ET in its NBA Cup opener.

The Clippers have lost three straight and will be without several players, as laid out in the latest injury report, so this is a good chance for the Wolves to get back on track at home.

I expect a bounce-back night from Gobert.

Two bad games in a row happen to everybody over a long season, and the way he talked on Thursday tells me he is already locked in on fixing it.

If the Wolves feed him early and he starts finishing again, Minnesota should be able to snap this two-game skid and give the team some confidence for the stretch without Edwards.