PORTLAND, ORE. – In the past few games, the Timberwolves have changed several dynamics concerning how the team operates with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined.
Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson working together better recently
Gobert has scored 46 points in the past two game while Anderson has 18 assists — seven on passes to Gobert.
December 12, 2022 at 5:59AM
Both Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson have seen their roles increase, and the two are intertwined in how that has happened.
First, Gobert recently has become more involved and a natural part of the offense. Even though the Wolves lost in the first of their back-to-back games at Portland, they nearly erased a fourth-quarter deficit because they were so effective at finding Gobert rolling to the basket or within the cracks of the Trail Blazers defense.
Gobert scored 24 points against Portland and 22 in Friday's victory at Utah. He shot a combined 17-for-22 (77%) in those games.
"The offense is designed a little different than the Utah offense, but I think it's just about moving the ball for me," Gobert said. "Just getting to my spots and being aggressive. And I think I'm still getting better every year. I think I'm a better player today than I was last year, and I'm just trying to show that every night."
Gobert has shown a growing chemistry with his teammates, especially Kyle Anderson, who is playing more minutes with Gobert now that he is in the starting lineup in Towns' place.
Anderson has unlocked his potential as a distributor in the past two games and has 18 combined assists.
Seven of those 18 assists have been to Gobert. Even though Anderson is playing power forward, he still has a history as a playmaker and can handle the ball. He said he had been looking up film of Gobert's former teammate Joe Ingles and how the two of them had developed a connection.
The two are able to connect on tricky passes in tight spaces, and did so multiple times against the Blazers.
"A lot of times, I just tell him get in that dunker and always expect it from me," Anderson said. "I'm an unselfish guy. Even if it looks like I'm going to go finish, I'm going to drop it off the last second. He's been great in the dunker, ready to finish, on the roll, in the pocket. He's been much improved since the beginning of the season."
Gobert had a lot of issues hanging on to passes the first weeks of the season, but his catching has been improved of late. Mishandled balls were few and far between on Saturday. Gobert said he appreciates what Anderson brings to the offense.
"Kyle makes it easy for everyone around him," Gobert said. "He's just such a smart player, and I just got to be at the right spot and with Kyle the ball is going to come to you. There's no magic in it. It's nothing different than I've done before; it's just the ball is moving and I just got to be at the right spot and then just be ready to finish strong and play basketball."
The elephant in the room is that the Wolves are doing this — and maybe it was only possible — because Towns is out of the lineup. But they're betting that some of the traits they are adopting in Towns' absence will still be there when he returns. Getting Gobert going on the offensive end has been one of the most positive developments so far in an otherwise tumultuous season.
"My teammates, we're starting to get to know each other a little better," Gobert said. "There's some trust that has been coming along. I think it can be a lot better. I think we're really tough to guard when we move the ball like we did [Saturday]."
Naz Reid led the Wolves with 25 points off the bench, Anthony Edwards added 21, and Minnesota made sure Charlotte didn’t leave Target Center with another victory.
