Why Draymond believes Gobert is the ‘barbecue chicken’ in the matchup against Jokic

Why Draymond believes Gobert is the ‘barbecue chicken’ in the matchup against Jokic originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors forward Draymond Green believes Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has no chance against Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokić.

Green, quite simply, believes Gobert is prepared when defending the three-time NBA MVP.

At halftime of the Nuggets’ eventual 112-97 victory over the Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinal round on Tuesday, Green, as an analyst for TNT’s “Inside The NBA,” discussed the pivotal matchup between the two big men and why Gobert is fighting Jokić.

“BBQ chicken. It’s happening,” Green said. “This has been the matchup that everyone wants to see: DPOY versus the MVP. And now, Rudy Gobert doesn’t have a chance. The problem he’s having is that he’s hitting him with bodies and giving him all the footwork and Rudy Gobert is struggling.”

Green’s latest comments come just more than two weeks after he praised Gobert and declared that it was “not rubbish” more after an impressive showing in the first round of the NBA playoff series over the Phoenix Suns.

In addition to believing that Gobert has no chance against Jokić, Green also confidently declared that the series is over, for two reasons.

“I have two reasons why this series doesn’t come back to Minnesota,” Green explained. “Number one, the great Frenchman is sitting on that podium speaking his native language: ‘We, we, we need to do this.’ You, you, you need to stop. It’s not ‘us’. Karl-Anthony Towns is really doing a great job when he’s in Joker. It’s you, my man, who is being cooked. So there is no ‘we’.

“Number two: When you’re in these playoff series, for me, I’m always looking for the slightest bit of weakness that I can find. And the way Karl-Anthony Towns walked off that court limping after playing the rest of that game totally fine and then he could barely get off the court… they don’t believe anymore And when you lose belief, they’re defending the champions you’re playing against.”

After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead, Gobert and Minnesota have lost three straight games to the defending champions and now face elimination in Game 6 on Thursday at Target Center.

If the Timberwolves have any hope of holding off the Nuggets, the Gobert-Jokić matchup will likely be the deciding factor in any Minnesota comeback attempt.

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