Rudy Gobert recorded two playoff career-highs to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves past the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 and advance to the NBA Western Conference Semifinals.

Rudy Gobert became the punchline to a biting NBA joke. His status in the league, questioned. His four Defensive Player of the Year honors, discredited. His ability to thrive in the postseason, nearly universally rejected.

The Minnesota Timberwolves spent Game 5 in a dismal shooting funk, providing the Los Angeles Lakers with ample opportunity to stave off playoff elimination.While his teammates struggled, Rudy Gobert stepped up against the small-ball Lakers — and on their big man's shoulders,