The Minnesota Timberwolves welcome the Detroit Pistons to Target Center on New Year's eve. There's no better time for the league's worst team to come to the Twin City, with the Wolves mired in an ugly five-game losing streak. Rudy Gobert didn't suit up in Minnesota's 123-114 road loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, sidelined by an illness. But is Rudy Gobert playing tonight vs. the Pistons?
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Rudy Gobert health status vs. Pistons
Rudy Gobert is currently listed as questionable on Minnesota's injury report with an illness, so his status against Detroit is unclear.
Article Continues BelowHe missed the Timberwolves' last game with an illness. With Karl-Anthony towns still recovering from a calf strain, backup center Naz Reid started in place of Gobert against the Bucks. Reid scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, struggling from long-range and with Milwaukee's length defensively en route to 7-of-18 shooting.
Minnesota acquired Gobert in a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz, exchanging an unprecedented four first-round picks, the draft rights to promising rookie big man Walker Kessler and a trio of key role players for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Gobert and the Wolves have fallen short of optimistic preseason expectations, though, failing to establish identity and consistency on either side of the ball.
Minnesota enters Tuesday's action at 16-20, a season-worst five games below .500. Chris Finch's team ranks 19th in offensive and 14th in defensive rating, per NBA.com/stats. With Gobert on the floor, the Timberwolves' defensive rating is 109.1, matching Milwaukee's second-ranked season-long mark. His scoring, rebounds and block numbers have tailed off considerably since last season.
Will Gobert take the floor versus the young, rebuilding Pistons? That remains to be seen, but Minnesota should be favorites to ends its losing streak regardless.