Dorian Finney-Smith says that he knew he could take the shots he wanted to because Rudy Gobert was the one guarding him.
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After a disappointing start to their 2020-21 NBA campaign, the Dallas Mavericks seem to have picked up the pace following the All-Star break.
This was expected of them however as they have one of the easiest remaining schedules of any team out West in the latter half of the season. This, coupled with the fact that Luka Doncic has been on a tear as of late, makes for a Mavericks push for a top 4 seed.
One of the few teams above .500 that the Mavs face off against in the second half of the season, is the Utah Jazz, who they beat 111-103 last night. Luka had his usual stellar stats which included 31 points and 8 assists.
However, in order to take down the team that the NBA has consistently ranked 1 in their power rankings, Luka received help in the form of Dorian Finney-Smith. Finney-Smith went well over his scoring average of 9.5 over the past 15 games to pour in 23 towards the winning effort.
Dorian Finney-Smith ‘thanks’ Rudy Gobert for letting him score 23 on him.
Seems as though the Jazz’s DPOY cannot catch a break as he is once again being made fun of. Whether it’s for his nonchalant behavior towards COVID last season or the fact that analysts like Shaq called him out for his ‘absurd’ contract, Gobert has been the subject of scrutiny for a while now.
Following the Dallas-Utah game, Finney-Smith took to his postgame interview to say, “I knew I was going to get shots because I knew they was going to put Rudy Gobert on me.”
“I knew I was going to get shots because I knew they was going to put Rudy on me.”
– Dorian Finney-Smith after scoring 23 points tonight 🤭
(h/t @CallieCaplan ) pic.twitter.com/ayZ6ldiuc4— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) April 6, 2021
Though Gobert may be the best rim protector in the NBA, he is far from being an apt defender when playing on-ball defense on the perimeter. With the Mavs employing a multitude of switches in the half-court setting, Gobert was bound to find himself guarding smaller, quicker forwards like Smith.