Good morning, Winners! This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Here’s Mike Sykes.
Nothing about the Timberwolves winning Game 5 and eliminating the Lakers makes sense. Nothing. Not one bit of it.
If I told you that the Lakers would hold Anthony Edwards to 15 points on 5-19 shooting from the field, you’d think LA would have a great shot at winning that game. If I told you the Wolves, as a whole, only made seven 3-pointers in the game, you’d probably feel even better about the Lakers’ chances. If I told you the Wolves actually took 47 3-pointers total (!!!!!) you’d probably say there’s no chance the Lakers would lose this game. A team missing 3-pointers in one night is just comically bad.
Fret not, Wolves fans. Rudy Gobert came to save the day.
It wasn’t Edwards who booted the Lakers out of the playoffs. It wasn’t only Julius Randle, who actually did have himself a solid game. But, really, a bulk of the credit goes to Rudy Gobert, who looked like prime Shaquille O’Neal in Game 5.
He had 27 points and 24 rebounds. The Lakers couldn’t keep him off the glass, partly due to his motor but mostly because JJ Redick prematurely decided not to play anyone over 6-foot-8 for whatever reason. The Wolves, in total, had 18 offensive rebounds. Gobert, himself, had nine total. That’s domination. I would never have guessed that it’d be Rudy Gobert booting LeBron James and Luka Doncic out of the playoffs, but here we are.
And good for Rudy, man. Look, I know he’s not the most likable character out there. I’m not the biggest fan either. I think it’s OK to admit he’s kind of dorky. I mean that in the nicest way possible. Remember that time he cried about not being an All-Star? That wasn’t a good look. And then there’s the whole COVID thing. That was the worst look. Even his own teammates didn’t like him then.
But let’s not act like Gobert hasn’t been the punching bag for the entire league for the last…however long he’s been in the NBA.
Luka, specifically, gave him what might be his most embarrassing moment on the court when he had him doing the roll bounce on the court last season. Here we stand today having watched Gobert dunk all over Doncic and the rest of his team. Even Shaq, who can’t stand Gobert’s guts, had to give it up for him. This is a well-earned victory lap for the guy. I can’t hate on it.
There’s also a sweet, sweet irony that comes with this game — no, this series, really. You know who the Lakers could’ve really used? Anthony Davis.
OR MAYBE MARK WILLIAMS: The Hornets center had a hilarious response to the Lakers being dominated in the paint
Obviously, I’m not begrudging this team’s decision makers for trading for Luka Doncic. You make that deal 10 times out of 10. But you also don’t lose this series this way if Anthony Davis is on that team. Or, really, if you just have a competent center at all. That completely changes the team’s trajectory.
What makes that even funnier is that Davis, himself, begged for the Lakers to find a good option at center before the team sent him on the next flight out to Dallas. LeBron candidly pointed that out after the loss.
I don’t know what the future of this team will be. Luka had a contract extension decision to make. LeBron has a potential retirement decision to make. Things are sort of up in the air in a way that we probably didn’t think they’d be two months ago.
But once all of that stuff is cleared up, we see what LA’s number one priority needs to be: A center to stop Rudy Freakin’ Gobert.
In more somber news
A fan is in critical condition with a skull fracture after falling from the stands during the 7th inning of the Cubs vs. Pirates game. It was a terrifying scene. Here’s Cory Woodroof with everything we know so far.
“A scary scene developed at PNC Park on Wednesday night as a fan fell from the stands to the field.
The evening’s Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs game came to a halt when a fan tumbled from the stands onto the warning track in the outfield at PNC Park.
Pirates players motioned for the fan in question to receive immediate medical attention, and a cart was brought out to escort the fan off the diamond for further medical attention.”
You sincerely hate to see this sort of thing happen. Sending all the good vibes to the fan and his loved ones here. This is devastating.
MCCUTCHEN SENDS THE LOVE: Andrew McCutchen posted heartfelt prayers for the fallen fan after the game
With a 4-1 win over the Canadiens, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals have officially advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
That’s not necessarily shocking news. It’s what most of us expected to happen. But what’s notable about this is that it’s the first time the team has advanced to the second round since 2018 (!!!!!).
Guys. That’s the year the Caps won the Cup.
Not saying that this will be another Stanley Cup run for Ovi and company. But it’s pretty shocking that it’s been that long since this team advanced to the next round. That shows you how hard it is, not just to win the Cup, but to advance in the playoffs at all in this league. Sheesh.
Quick hits: The Wolves just cooked LeBron … Bill Belichick’s gibberish … and more
— The Timberwolves used LeBron James’ own words to absolutely cook him. Prince Grimes has more.
— Here’s Blake Schuster on Bill Belichick’s terrible statement that basically confirms everything CBS reported about him while trying to deny it all.
— Three pretty terrible signs for Shedeur Sanders’ Rookie of the Year hopes.
— Nikola Jokic is still Jamal Murray’s biggest fan. Robert Zeglinski has more.
— Here are eight rookies who could make an immediate impact on the NFL season.
— Meg Hall has more on why Brittney Griner says the Atlanta Dream have made her feel young again.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️
