DENVER – After Sunday's Game 1, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert said his back was feeling "not great."
Gobert got two days of rest since then, and didn't have to cram his 7-1 body into an airplane. One of the main questions heading into Game 2 was just how his back was feeling?
"Night and day," Gobert said. "Still not 100%, but it's much better."
Gobert has been playing through significant pain in the past few games. He added that when he played in Friday's play-in victory over Oklahoma City, it was "not good." Gobert was suspended for punching teammate Kyle Anderson in last week's play-in game loss to the Lakers but said he wouldn't have been able to play in that game.
Gobert has said he hasn't been able to move like he wants because of the back and it has limited his effectiveness.
"It was just moving more than anything," Gobert said. "I feel like finishing through contact, especially Friday, that's when I felt like every time I was touched, it was hurting. Now I'm good. Now I'm better, so it's exciting to see the sunshine again."
Star in the making?
On Tuesday, a reporter asked Wolves guard Anthony Edwards how it was to be a "young star" in the NBA, taking on the likes of Denver's Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Edwards rejected the premise of the question.
"I'm not a young star yet," Edwards said. "But it's fun."