The unexpectedly extended All-Star break for Rudy Gobert provided a necessary reset after an uneven start to the season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Good since the All-Star break, Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert now returns to the NBA playoffs ready to show there’s still a place for the big man there. He has sometimes been minimized in his career by opponents who have taken him away from the basket — and out of the game — by going small.