The Minnesota Timberwolves’ early-season buzz has taken a hit fast. After opening 3-0, they’ve now dropped two straight, including Wednesday’s 119-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors at Target Center, and the frustration around the team was impossible to miss.
One of the night’s most telling moments came during a timeout, when LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga were visibly irritated with Rudy Gobert. Jonathan Kuminga and LaMelo Ball frustrated with Rudy Gobert 😬
- NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 29, 2026
The scene stood out because it stayed contained. Gobert kept his composure, unlike in 2023 when he punched then-teammate Kyle Anderson on the bench after an argument. Ball and Kuminga, who both joined Minnesota in the summer, were the ones showing the heat this time.
Gobert, though, had plenty to answer for on the floor. He finished with one point, going 0-for-4 from the field, while adding four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 20 minutes. It was another rough offensive night for the 34-year-old, who has now gone 0-for-13 over his last two games and has three games this season without a made field goal.
Minnesota’s issues are magnified with Anthony Edwards set to undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee and miss up to two months. Without him, the Timberwolves need more from their top names, and Gobert didn’t provide it against Golden State. Nobody is asking him to turn into a scoring machine, but the standard is higher on the defensive end and on the glass.
Edwards had already shown his own frustration with Gobert after Monday’s 127-125 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anthony Edwards to Rudy Gobert
“Why did you stop playing”
- Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) October 27, 2026
Back-to-back games with teammates showing that kind of irritation is not a great sign, and the noise around Joan Beringer is getting louder. During the timeout, he was the only one backing Gobert.
Ball’s night didn’t help much either, even if he was the most visibly worked up on the bench. In his first game without Edwards this season, he scored eight points on 3-for-11 shooting, grabbed three rebounds, handed out eight assists and committed six turnovers. It was a messy showing, and if he can’t lift the offense while Edwards is out, Minnesota is going to feel that absence in a hurry.
After the game, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch addressed Gobert’s offensive slump and the fact that the big man has now failed to make a field goal in three of the team’s five games.
“We got to find him a little more cleanly; we’ve not been able to do that,” Finch said, via the Timberwolves. “He’s got to catch and finish better.
He had 16 chances in and around the paint in the Cleveland game, didn’t finish well. I think he’s got to get back and play with a little bit more force down there, and we got to find him a little cleaner at times.”
Finch put some of it on the team as a whole, but the message was clear enough: Gobert has to be better, and soon. Minnesota’s next chance comes Friday at 8 p.m.
ET against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center. With Isaiah Jackson and Brook Lopez in the Clippers’ center rotation, Gobert will have a chance to reset.
If he can’t establish himself there, the concern in Minnesota will only grow.
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