Things got a bit chippy in the third quarter of the Tuesday night matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers. With around eight minutes to go in the period, Andrew Nembhard drove hard to the hoop on a blow-by against Mike Conley. Rudy Gobert then met Nembhard and provided resistance on his attack to the basket, but Gobert did more than just that, giving the Pacers guard a forearm shiver straight to his face.
Nembhard, understandably, did not take too kindly to this. After receiving the blow from Gobert, the Pacers guard threw the basketball at the Timberwolves center and went up to him face to face before having to be separated. In the aftermath of this exchange, the referees ejected Gobert for what they deemed to be an offense worthy of being called a flagrant foul penalty two, while Nembhard headed for an early exit as well after being whistled for his second technical foul of the game for his reaction to the blow he took.
Rudy Gobert was ejected after this flagrant foul penalty 2 on Andrew Nembhard during Wolves-Pacers.
Nembhard was also ejected for picking up his 2nd technical foul by throwin the ball at Gobert.
Thoughts?
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Gobert may argue that he just gave Nembhard a receipt for what he did to Conley in the first place. As the Pacers guard was starting his drive to the hoop, Conley was on the receiving end of an elbow to the face, which was what freed up Nembhard in the first place. The Timberwolves center may simply be retaliating for his teammate, although that act of retaliation was costly, as Minnesota will now have to be without their starting center for the final 19 minutes or so of game time on Monday night.
At the very least, it seemed like this exchange lit a fire underneath the Timberwolves. They were trailing by eight when the altercation occurred, and now, they’re leading the Pacers, 101-96, at the time of writing.
Timberwolves and Pacers engage in heated battle
The Pacers are vastly shorthanded on the night, as they are without Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Myles Turner for their road clash against the streaking Timberwolves. Even then, Indiana has been very competitive, pushing Timberwolves to the limit amid their ongoing quest to extend their winning streak and keep up in the race for the sixth-spot in the Western Conference.
For the Timberwolves, they have gotten plenty of contributions from the bench thus far, with Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo providing some much-needed offensive support to Anthony Edwards. Meanwhile, Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin have taken the lead for the Pacers.
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