Rudy Gobert Nearly Struck by Falling Piece of Target Center

Rudy Gobert - Minnesota Timberwolves
Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Guess what? The Minnesota Timberwolves have been playing a little bit better, of late. On Monday night, Anthony Edwards & Co won their third straight game, a 100-92 victory over the putrid Atlanta Hawks. A big part of their improved play has been a better Rudy Gobert.

Saturday night, in a win vs the Denver Nuggets, Gobert had one of the more impressive stat lines of his Timberwolves career — 14 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, (+26). Monday, he looked great again, scoring 18 points (7-of-9) to go with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Falling piece of Minnesota Timberwolves home arena nearly strikes Rudy Gobert

But early on during his latest impressive performance, Gobert came two feet away from falling victim to a decaying Target Center. Just after the buzzer sounded at the end of the 1st quarter Monday, a horn-shaped object fell from the Target Center roof fell, barely missing Rudy, instead landing approximately two feet directly in the path of where the Wolves’ big man was walking.

Target Center is old

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hosting the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night at Target Center, a 35 year old multi-purpose arena in downtown Minneapolis; home of the Wolves since 1990. Of 30 NBA teams, only the New York Knicks (Madison Square Garden -1968) plays home games at an older venue.

There are a lot of reasons why the Timberwolves have been playing better, but the improved play of Rudy Gobert on both ends of the floor is at the top of the list. This has been a very important stretch for Minnesota, after showing some signs of life lately.

Related: NBA Insider Floats Realistic Julius Randle Trade Opportunity for Timberwolves

Tonight’s near unconscious experience seemed to rattle Rudy Gobert a little bit, right after it happened. Hopefully, he can parlay this ‘new lease on life’ feeling into a better version of the Minnesota Timberwolves center than what we have seen for most of this season.

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