Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun dove hard on Rudy Gobert and celebrated in Rudy Gobert’s face. It led to some hard feelings in a rematch of a seven-game series from last year’s playoffs.
In the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, Braun found a path to the basket that put him close to the four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. That’s usually a recipe for offensive disaster, but Braun powered his way through for a thunderous two-handed dunk that drew audible gasps from the Target Center crowd.
Braun celebrated by shouting and walking along the baseline, straight into Gobert. The Frenchman objected, put his hands on the 25-year-old guard and pushed him away.
Quick intervention from Timberwolves forward Jayden McDaniels and the officials prevented the situation from escalating, but both Braun and Gobert received technical fouls in the aftermath.
Gobert himself praised the dunk after the gamebut not Braun’s celebration:
“He dunked on me. That was incredible, but I didn’t like what happened after the dunk. But the dunk was great. It’s part of the game, there’s a lot of adrenaline. I respect him, it was a fun dunk.”
It was a highlight for the Nuggets, who took a 10-point lead a minute later. That was the end of the goodies, however, as the Timberwolves erased the 10-point mark over the course of four minutes in what ended up being a 119-116 win in Minnesota.
Gobert played a crucial role in putting the Nuggets away, making both free throws with 10 seconds left and forcing reigning MVP Nikola Jokić into a difficult three-pointer to end the game.
Gobert finished the game with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting with 14 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while Braun had 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting with seven rebounds. Aaron Gordon led all scorers with 31 points, while Anthony Edwards had 29 points for the victors.
