The NBA’s top-2 defenses went toe-to-toe in Cleveland on Friday night. The Minnesota Timberwolves made their way to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to take on the Cavaliers, and while both teams were dealing with some pretty major injuries, they still managed to put forth a basketball game that came down to the very end.
Things ended up going to overtime, in large part because Rudy Gobert got himself tossed with less than 30 seconds left. On Minnesota’s penultimate possession of regulation, Gobert got called for a foul while trying to corral an Anthony Edwards miss. He wasn’t happy about it in the slightest, which led to him getting a technical foul. The main feed didn’t quite show what happened, but alternate feeds showed that Gobert made a money sign to Scott Foster, which is about as close to a guaranteed technical foul as anything in the sport.
Rudy Gobert gets a technical foul for making the money sign at officials after fouling out. pic.twitter.com/AXdGSkowMU
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) March 9, 2024
Rudy Gobert made the $ sign at the Refs and got a tech pic.twitter.com/OtPJrIztvN
— Alex (@Dubs408) March 9, 2024
rudy gobert technical foul for this money gesture pic.twitter.com/zW7DOuKZn3
— ◇ (@2MANYBRIDGES) March 9, 2024
Gobert fouled out because of this, and even worse for Minnesota, the technical free throw that Darius Garland took evened things up at 97. Fortunately for the Timberwolves, they were able to avoid losing in regulation, as Naz Reid (who had a monster night as a scorer) was able to swat Garland’s attempt at a game-winning three.
Naz Reid continues his clutch night with the HUGE block pic.twitter.com/20WKlTNyQX
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 9, 2024