Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell slammed former teammate Rudy Gobert for his “little antics” during their 131-122 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday evening, as the latter had an altercation with De’Andre Hunter.
Mitchell pointed to the incident with less than four minutes in the first quarter, where Hunter shoved Gobert during a boxout for a rebound. After Hunter’s first push, Gobert had his hands up while walking and talking smack to Hunter, and both players drew technical fouls after review.
“I’ve seen that with Rudy and his little antics,” Mitchell told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I’m just glad they called it both ways because it was both parties. Dre is always going to be standing up for himself as he should, but I think he was egged on a little bit.”
“Just basketball,” Hunter said of his scuffle with Gobert. “He does the things he does, and I’m just not going for it.”
Cleveland Cavaliers News: De’Andre Hunter drops somber admission in loss vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost last night, as the Minnesota Timberwolves had a balanced scoring attack while setting season-highs for shooting percentages, going 57 percent from the field and 53 percent from three-point range.
“I think we just got outplayed on both ends,” Hunter said. “They made some timely shots, and we turned the ball over a few times in crucial moments in the fourth.”
“We can’t keep getting down and then having to fight. It just puts so much pressure on everything else. Played a solid first half, but it was that third quarter, and now you’re fighting back, and you’re chasing,” Donovan Mitchell continued. “Credit to us for coming back, but it shouldn’t be that way. It’s not a situation that we want to continually be in. We let seven minutes change the course of the game, and against teams like this, just can’t have that.”
