In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers' 103-96 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that ended their season, one of the big stories coming out of Game 5 was how much Rudy Gobert dominated them. ESPN's Dave McMenamin quoted one Lakers team source as saying "Gobert looked like Shaq" against them.

Rudy Gobert had playoff career highs of 27 points and 24 rebounds, Julius Randle added 23 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves advanced in the NBA playoffs with a 103-96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of their first-round series.

For years now, Gobert has been a safety net for Minnesota when things aren’t going well, particularly against cellar dwellers. His interior dominance creates a high floor. If opponents can’t score at the rim and have to battle for every rebound, Minnesota automatically becomes three times more difficult to beat.