Rudy Gobert offers his best on both sides of the ball against Nuggets

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had 13 points, four assists and one rebound in the first quarter of Saturday afternoon’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Still, the Wolves outscored the Nuggets by nine points in the opening frame.

It wasn’t because Anthony Edwards was shooting the laces of the ball. It was because Rudy Gobert essentially matched that stat line with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in the first 12 minutes. Saturday’s game was an example of Gobert at his best on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he did as good a job on Jokic as anyone can on the best player in the NBA. Offensively, his teammates found him in the middle of the floor, and Gobert routinely made the right reads.

Gobert finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four steals on the Wolves’ 133-104 Beatdown of the nuggets.

“He was really good,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said of Gobert. “Just active like we need him to be. I thought he set the tone on the offensive glass in the first quarter. And then when they tried to mix up the lineups and then upset me, he continued to be a presence there when they tried to put the little guys on him.

Jokic can’t be completely shut down, and he finished with 20 points, 11 assists and three rebounds. But he also had seven turnovers and his plus-minus of minus-24 was a worse game. Gobert, meanwhile, finished as a plus-26, second best.

It was mainly Gobert’s matchup on Saturday.

While Gobert had an up-and-down season, it wasn’t a surprise to see him put together the strong defensive effort. After all, he has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards. But what he did offensively was another story. His demise was perfect in a 40-point first quarter. Gobert grabbed four offensive rebounds in the game. His teammates found him in the pick-and-roll. He scored the first four points of the contest, and was even twisting his body to do difficult floats.

Saturday’s game showed how dangerous the Wolves can be when Gobert is contributing on offense.

“For example, everyone is excited to see those things. Floaters, Euros, Dimes: He had like five assists (Saturday),” Naz Reid said of Gobert’s offense after the game. ” It’s exciting to see. … Even when you try to get him the ball when he’s posting up, he could get a foul. Just stuff like that, it all builds momentum. I think being involved in the offense is huge for us.”

Making a more concerted effort to involve Gobert in the offense is a key for the Wolves. They’ve had success finding him in the pocket earlier this season, and Gobert had success passing and scoring from that spot. But there has also been the other side of that equation. There are times, like Saturday, where Gobert is making the right reads and making timely passes for open layups or dunks. But at times, he’s also had a tendency to turn the ball over or make an ill-advised pass. And other times, if he loses some confidence, the Wolves’ offense could start to move away from him entirely.

“We haven’t found (Gobert) enough in different situations, and now we feel like we’re finding these things,” Finch said. “It’s something we have to do to make sure teams pay for some of the matchups they try to make against us, and it’s something we’ve been able to exploit at times. So just the confidence level is there again, and that’s really important to us.”

Trust is the key to the entire operation and the key to finding consistency. When Gobert makes quick decisions, doesn’t hold on to the ball and finds the right reads, whether it’s a handoff or a touchdown pass, his teammates continue to find him in the pocket. But it seems like confidence tends to dissipate after a bad play or two. Then the wolves run away from him.

“I’ve noticed that when I’m decisive and confident, they’re more confident in finding me in different situations,” Gobert said. “For me, it’s just about being decisive, being aggressive.”

It’s a two-way street. Gobert needs to continue making those quick decisions, and his teammates need to trust him to make them. Because when Gobert is at his best, he completely raises the ceiling for what the Wolves can do offensively. And when Gobert is at his best on both sides of the ball, the sky really is the limit for Minnesota.

“(Gobert) understands that when we give it to you, you have to do the right thing every time,” Mike Conley said. “It’s a tough thing, especially for (Edwards) sometimes, to want to throw that pass if we don’t get something out of it. So (Gobert), it’s just about making the right reads early, not trying to do it too much. Because when we can make the right reads, correct reads, our offense is not so much a stagnant offense.