Gobert played just three minutes in France's latest victory at the Olympics.
Timberwolves center and reigning NBA defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert played just three minutes in France's quarterfinal victory over Canada at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday — but there's an explanation for that. Gobert said he injured his left ring finger in a recent practice and had surgery on it on Monday,That makes a lot more sense than France outright benching one of its best players, even if the matchup against Canada may not have been the most favorable one for Gobert.
During the group stage, Gobert played a major role as a starter and defensive anchor for France. His best performance came against Japan, when he had 7 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. He also had eight blocks in the three group stage games. Gobert's finger injury is presumably not an overly serious one, considering he wasn't held out of this quarterfinal match entirely. It'll be interesting to see if he plays more in the semifinal against Germany on Thursday. Gobert had four blocks in France's loss against Germany to wrap up the group stage last week.
Even without Gobert, France was able to pull off an upset win over Canada on Tuesday. Victor Wembanyama had 12 rebounds and played impactful defense, while Guerschon Yabusele, Isaïa Cordinier, and Evan Fournier led things in the scoring department. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 27 points in the loss for Canada, who is now eliminated. Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker had two points in three minutes.
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