And there might not be better proof of that than Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns tonight. Gobert had a pretty pedestrian box score: 10 points, 13 rebounds, one assist. Meanwhile, Towns exploded for 26 points, 12 rebounds four assists. That’s a really big difference!
But I thought Gobert outplayed Towns anyway. I’m not saying Gobert’s teammates outplayed Towns’ teammates (though they did), not that Gobert bested Towns in their matchup; I think that Gobert played better than Towns played.
That’s because there are just so many plays where Gobert pops up in the right place while Towns doesn’t.