Rudy Gobert Punches Teammate in Timberwolves Win. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 113-108 Sunday after center Rudy Gobert threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout. Gobert was sent home after the incident, which occurred right before half-time as the Timberwolves trailed the Pelicans in a game with playoff position implications.

Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a statement:

“We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter. His behaviour on the bench was unacceptable, and we will also handle the situation internally,” 

Gobert threw the punch after he and Anderson exchanged words, replays showed. The jab didn’t land, and teammates immediately grabbed Gobert and stepped between the two.

Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels also suffered a broken right hand after punching a wall exiting the game.

Connelly and front-office executive Dell Demps, who also knows Gobert well from their time together in Utah, went to the locker room to address the situation. 

Connelly told Gobert that the organization decided to send him home, and Gobert changed and headed for the exit while his team took the floor for the second half.

Neither Connelly nor coach Chris Finch would give any indication on possible further discipline that Gobert could face.

“We’re not proud of that behaviour by anybody,” Finch said. “We really haven’t dug too far into the root cause of it. But guys were just frustrated. We weren’t playing well and weren’t sharing the ball. We were getting beat in all the little areas.”

Anderson said he thinks the two can move past it and get ready for the Lakers game.

“I think tempers just flared,” Anderson said. “That’s all. It is what it is. We’ll speak about it and move on. We’re grown men. It is what it is. Just move on.”