The Timberwolves stunned Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs tonight in the fourth quarter as Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle led their rally back from a 19-point deficit to close out the 103-104 win for Minnesota. But during the game, the Timberwolves got a piece of bad news as well after a flagrant foul from Rudy Gobert on Victor Wembanyama.
Gobert was assessed a flagrant foul for a reckless close-out on his French teammate Wembanyama. This was his fifth flagrant foul of the season, earning him a one-game suspension as a punishment.
Rudy Gobert picked up a flagrant foul for a reckless close out on Wembanyama and then got a technical for bumping the ref on his way to the bench. The Spurs and Wemby seriously dodged a bullet because that could have led to a major injury. pic.twitter.com/YmKmRYlK1F
— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) January 12, 2026
Therefore, Gobert will not be available for the Timberwolves’ next game, which is against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on Tuesday, January 13.
While it was Julius Randle who put the clamps on Wembanyama in the final possession, the Spurs’ Frenchman was matched up against his national teammate Gobert for most of the night. And he seemingly dominated that matchup.
Wembanyama finished the game with 29 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and three steals while shooting 8-18 from the floor (44.4 %).
Gobert not only struggled to defend Wembanyama, but he also came up short on the offensive end of the floor. He finished the game with only two points but also had 14 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block while making only one of his four shots (25 FG%).
Wemby is TOYING with Gobert 😭 pic.twitter.com/POoKvSFxHN
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) January 12, 2026
Several plays from this matchup went viral on social media as NBA fans saw this battle of Frenchmen. They expressed their opinions on it all over X and Instagram.
“😂😂 Wemby is TOYING with Gobert 😭 Absolute domination on the court — defense doesn’t stand a chance right now! 🏀💥”
“I’ll never get used to that new step-through.”
“This looked so much like a travel, but my brain still can’t compute that Wemby can get from the foul line to the basket in one step.”
Victor Wembanyama goes right at his fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert and makes it look smooth with turnaround fall-away in the paint right over those long arms. That one had some extra cookin’ sauce on it as Gobert tried hard not to be scored against.🇫🇷🔥 pic.twitter.com/3TWthrt0I4
— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) January 12, 2026
“He just straight frying this man 😂😂😂.”
“Rudy is a cone.”
“This is just a normal day for them back in France.”
Several such reactions flooded the internet before the Timberwolves got the last laugh in this matchup. They improved to 26-14 after this win over the Spurs, who fell to 27-12 following this result.
These two teams face each other once again this week, on Saturday, January 17. Considering how close this game was, it will be interesting to see how the Spurs respond in their next meeting.
