MINNEAPOLIS — Many athletes claim they don’t pay attention to the media and things that are written and said about them. Utah center Rudy Gobert isn’t one of those athletes.
Gobert, who often can be seen scrolling through his phone for several minutes after a game, had read what was said about Monday night’s game in Salt Lake where Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns got the better of him with a 29-point, 13-rebound performance in leading his team to a 10-point victory.
It didn’t sit well with Gobert, who said, “I’ve read the comments, so obviously people that know me when I read some comments, I don’t really like it.”
So Wednesday night at the Target Center, an extra-motivated Gobert turned the tables by being the dominant center and leading his Utah Jazz to a 103-95 victory that moved his team to 9-5 on the season.
While his numbers didn’t end up much better than Towns, Gobert was clearly the better player and made the biggest impact on the game.
Gobert scored 12 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season, and also tied his season high with five blocked shots, while influencing many more.
“Rudy was terrific in some situations that are not that familiar to him. He’s he’s got a lot of pride and (Towns) is different, he’s hard to guard. But Rudy did a really good job and the other four guys out there did a really good job of containing. We were focused.” — Jazz coach Quin Snyder
Towns finished with 14 points and 12 boards, but he made a couple of three-pointers in the final minutes after the Jazz had a good lead and he really wasn’t a presence in the game.
“Rudy was terrific in some situations that are not that familiar to him,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder, speaking of Gobert having to guard Towns in three-point range. “He’s he’s got a lot of pride and (Towns) is different, he’s hard to guard. But Rudy did a really good job and the other four guys out there did a really good job of containing. We were focused.”
Of Gobert, Donovan Mitchell added, “He really did his thing. He was really locked in. They’re both all-star players and I think (Towns) got the better of him last game, but Rudy came back and responded like a competitor would and we knew he would. I’m proud of him.”
The Jazz had let the T-Wolves come back from a six-point deficit in the final quarter to win 112-102 Monday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena. As they outscored Utah 32-16 down the stretch, Towns did much of the damage with three 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to put the T-Wolves up for good.
Before the game, Snyder had said the Jazz would need a team effort to stop Towns, saying, “It inverts our defense and it means the other four guys on the floor have to do for Rudy, what Rudy traditionally does for them.”
Towns opened the game with a three-pointer from the right corner, but he only got one more shot the rest of the half and ended the first half with three points as the Jazz took a 48-46 lead.
In the second half, the Jazz seemed to be putting the game away when they extended the lead to 72-61 late in the third quarter, only to see Minnesota go on an 18-1 run to go up 79-73. However the Jazz came back with their own 12-0 run to take the lead for good.
After that Utah heated up from three-point range, hitting seven of their last nine as Mitchell and Bojan Bogdanovic each hit three and Mike Conley added one.
Bogdanovic ended up leading all scorers with 30 points, including 6 of 11 from long range, while Mitchell scored 26, including 5 of 10 on three-pointers.
Mitchell had been 5 of 24 Monday and although he wasn’t a lot better Wednesday at 9 of 24, he came through in the clutch for the Jazz.
“I just continued to shoot, be aggressive,” he said. “I think last year what I would have done is probably second-guess myself and not shoot as much. But I’m not shying away from it. I helps when you have everybody saying ‘keep shooting.’”
Andrew Wiggins, who sat out of Monday’s game because of illness, returned to Minnesota’s lineup and led his team with 22 points, although he was only one of 10 from three-point range.
JAZZ NOTES: The Jazz return home to play back-to-back home games against Golden State Friday and New Orleans Saturday ... Snyder praised Conley for taking control in the fourth quarter as he finished with 16 points, eight assists and no turnovers ... The Jazz will play the T-Wolves again in Minneapolis on Dec. 11 and in Salt Lake on March 20 ... Minnesota, which dropped to 8-7 on the year, plays Phoenix in its next game, Saturday at home.