Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was ejected from their 108-105 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday night after checking Mark Williams in the air with his forearm as he was going up for a dunk.
Midway through the third quarter of the contest at the Target Center, Williams drove through the lane and started to rise up for what should have been an easy dunk. He had a clear path to the rim, as Gobert was well out of the way to his right.
But once Williams was in the air, Gobert stepped in and drilled him hard in the ribs with his forearm — which sent Williams flying off track and down to the court hard.
Gobert seemed to know that he had committed a foul, as he raised a finger up to take credit for it instantly. But officials upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 due to significant contact to Williams’ ribs, which led to Gobert’s ejection.
Gobert had 15 points and eight rebounds when he left the game. The 33-year-old entered Monday night averaging 11 points and 10.2 rebounds per game this season, his 12th in the league. He’s in the first year of a new three-year, $109.5 million deal with the Timberwolves.
Williams stayed in the contest after initially remaining down on the floor shaken up after the foul, and he split his free throws. He threw down a dunk right after the second free throw, too, which put the Suns up by two points at the time.
The Timberwolves went on a 7-0 run and held the Suns scoreless for nearly three full minutes down the stretch to cut the game back to just a single point, thanks to a short bucket from Anthony Edwards. But that came with just 8.9 seconds left. The Suns hit a pair of free throws after that and came up with one final stop to escape with the three-point win.
Williams led the Suns with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Collin Gillespie added 19 points. Dillon Brooks finished with 18 points. The win pushed the Suns to 14-10 on the season.
Edwards had 40 points and shot 15-of-21 from the field to lead the Timberwolves. Julius Randle finished with 21 points and eight assists, and Bones Hyland added 14 points off the bench. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Timberwolves, who now sit at 15-9 on the year.
Minnesota will be back in action on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors.
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