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The Los Angeles Clippers fell to Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. It was the Wolves' first game at the all new Intuit Dome, which opened in August 2024.
Gobert, who got his first look at the Clippers new arena, came away very impressed with what he saw.
Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert on first impression of Clippers' Intuit Dome
In their first game at the all new Intuit Dome, home of the LA Clippers, the Minnesota Timberwolves came away with an impressive 108-80 victory. The Wolves claimed a 20-point lead by the start of the second quarter and saw that lead balloon to as much as 41 points in the second half.
Rudy Gobert finished the contest with eight points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals, and one block in 29 minutes of action. The Wolves were led by Julius Randle's 20-point, four-assist effort and Anthony Edwards' 16 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Clippers fans quickly realized it was simply not their team's night, but The Wall remained steadfast in its approach to distracting the opposition. Minnesota shot 10-of-18 from the free throw line — 55.6 percent — continuing their success in holding opponents to just 75 percent shooting from the line, which is third best in the NBA.
Following the game, Gobert was asked about his thoughts for the new arena. As a big fan of the movie Gladiator, Gobert likened the Inuit Dome to a Roman Colosseum and felt like he was Russell Crowe. Well, Russell Crowe without the sword.
“It's pretty cool,” Gobert said to a group of media members. “This morning, I was just looking around. It reminded me of a Colosseum a little bit. Like the movie Gladiator. It's one of my favorite movies. I was feeling like the gladiator. I'm excited to see it in the playoffs, all the seats full, I think it can be pretty impressive.”
Gobert, who finished the game with a career-high five steals, was then asked if that's a reason for his success in passing lanes on the night.
“So that's why you got all those steals out there? Because you felt like a gladiator?” a reporter asked.
“Yeah, maybe,” Gobert smirked. “Maybe I channeled that. I just didn't have my sword.”
With the win, the Timberwolves won the season series against the Clippers. They lead 2-0 with one game remaining, which will take place back in Minnesota later this season.
For the Clippers, their roughest stretch of the season to date is now over. They were the only team in the NBA who didn't have a single two-day break in the month of November, something head coach Tyronn Lue feels wore on them.
“I think playing every day or playing every other day for the whole month of November was [hard],” Lue said. “It was a hard for schedule. But our guys fought through it. What are we, 14-10, 24 games in 43 days, I thought our guys really took the challenge every single night and this was the only game that really got away from us from start to finish. And that happens. I told our guys at halftime, ‘We're going to have bad games. It's going to happen, but it's just how we handle it, not throwing our hands up every time somebody scores, not hanging our heads. Just continue to play through the game,' and I thought in the second half, we did that.”
The Clippers will now have just one game over the next eight days, with three days off on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before taking on the Houston Rockets on Sunday. They will then have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off before they fly to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Friday night.
In total, the Clippers will play just three games over their next 14 days, with two of those games being played at the Intuit Dome.
