As Nikola Jokic’s FG% decreased drastically, the Minnesota Timberwolves have established a 2-1 lead. Many, including Charles Barkley, acknowledge the effect that Wolves center Rudy Gobert has on the Joker. But not everybody is buying that argument, especially Shaquille O’Neal, who had a long-standing beef with the French star.

Before the start of Game 4, Inside the NBA spoke about Jokic’s lowely 27% FG shooting. The Denver Nuggets star missed 19 of his 26 shots in Thursday night’s loss. So Barkley began, “I said it’s time for Rudy to step up and say I got Joker and I said Edwards had to do the same thing to Jamal Murray. I got to give Rudy Gobert his flowers. Joker shooting a lot too. They might not let him get assists. He (Gobert) is earning that reputation. He’s guarding him. Man-o-man-0. And you got to give him flowers, Shaquille.” When it was the turn of the Big Aristotle, he began with, “I hate when y’all do that.” Clearly suggesting that he is not hyping Gobert’s performance.

“Do you understand the law of averages? Let me explain it to you. The Joker has dominated him a lot, right? Okay. So he has two bad games. So now you’re saying Rudy is shutting him down. Bro, just because you miss a shot and have a bad game doesn’t mean the defense is shutting you down. When you’re a guy like Joker, you’re just missing shots. I’m not going to sit up here and say Rudy Gobert is shutting him down. I’m never going to say that,” Shaquille O’Neal concluded. It seems the law of averages caught up to the Wolves center.

Because in Game 4, the Nuggets lead the Timberwolves 54-50 at halftime, shooting 48.0% (24-for-50) from the field with 18 assists. Nikola Jokic had 14 points and 8 assists, accounting for 44% of Denver’s dimes. Apart from creating, the 3x MVP got his buckets, which were missing in the previous game. He shot 7-12 in the first half, and he was hot from the first whistle. The Joker generated 19 of the Nuggets’ 23 points at the end of the first frame. While Rudy Gobert grabbed 7 rebounds, he had just 2 points with 1-3 attempts and had 1 turnover and 1 foul.

No doubt, Rudy Gobert has been a huge factor in limiting Jokic. After all, the Serbian had a visible dip in performance. He averaged 35.8 points, 15 rebounds, and 11.3 assists on 65% shooting from the field. But in the playoffs, the numbers are low. 25.3/14.3/ 7.3 and converting just 5/24 from the 3-point range. Again, this suggests that Jokic had slowed down. That’s why for Shaquille O’Neal, the French star is no Joker-stopper. “like making it difficult but not shutting him (Jokic) down.”

Shaquille O’Neal backed Nikola Jokic after Game 3 performance

The Nuggets star began the series with a triple-double of 25/13/11 on 58% shooting from the field. Then in Game 2 and Game 3, he produced just 11 dimes combined. His shooting took a huge hit in the previous game as he scored just 7 from 26 attempts, and it was only worse from beyond the arc, 2-10. From the end of Game 2, the performances took a hit. The Nuggets were outscored by 10 points in the final seven minutes, and he missed six of his seven shots.

Game 3 began with similar dull energy. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets went 3-of-21 shooting in an 11-point first quarter, their lowest-scoring quarter of the season. This was the first time in Jokic’s career that he attempted at least 26 shots in a game and made only seven or fewer of them. But it was the second instance that Gobert limited the Joker to less than 30% shooting. Even the head coach praised Jokic despite the dismal performance.

“He had a tough night,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “It happens to players. This guy’s played a million playoff games. There’s nights that are poor. He’ll bounce back. Everyone needs a day to understand we didn’t play well offensively.” Similar to Adelman, even Shaquille O’Neal believed it was a couple of off nights for the Joker. Now, top it off with his history of dissing Rudy Gobert, and there was no chance he gave flowers to the Wolves center.