Can Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert dominate inside against the Lakers?

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. His rebounding and shot-blocking has gone with him.

Now he and his team meet star Luka Doncic in the playoffs for a second consecutive season, this time with the Los Angeles Lakers after Doncic and Dallas beat the Wolves in the Western Conference finals in five games.

Back then, Gobert got caught in a viral moment, the victim of Doncic’s step-back, three-point shot that won Game 1 for the Mavericks on the road.

Now it’s another chance for Gobert to shine on L.A.’s big stage starting Saturday night. He arrives playing his best basketball down the regular-season stretch for a streaking Wolves team that traded for him in a blockbuster deal before the 2022-23 season.

Included was his career-high-tying 35-point game against Brooklyn at home on Friday and a 19-point, 18-rebound, four-block game on 13-for-17 shooting in Sunday’s season finale against Utah. It was his 36th double-double game this season.

“I don’t think my game changed,” Gobert said. “I got in a little groove by trying to be more aggressive, try to really set the tone for this team, and obviously the importance of the moment and every single game down the stretch. Probably subconsciously allowed me to play at an even higher level.”

The Lakers present a challenge with stars Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves creating plays on the perimeter from an array of small-ball lineups. The Lakers’ size consists mostly of 7-foot starting center Jaxson Hayes, 6-8 Rui Hachimura and James while the Wolves will counter with Gobert as well as starters Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle, both of them 6-9, and sixth man Naz Reid (6-9).

“We’ve been a team that traditionally leans into being big,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “We do those things big teams do. Rudy really has been dominating for a number of games now. I feel like it’s a continuation of form for him. Absolutely we need him to have a big series for sure, no doubt about it.”

Finch was asked what has lit Gobert up in recent weeks. Finch acknowledged Gobert’s early-season frustrations, identified February’s All-Star break as a turning point and said Gobert might have shaken off fatigue from playing for his French national team.

“Rudy lit himself up,” Finch said. “The Rudy we see now is the Rudy we saw all last year. We need Rudy to be the best we can be.”

The question is whether the Wolves can remain with their preferred big lineups when the Lakers go small.

“The whole point in the playoffs and basketball is try to force the other team to adapt to you and not the other way around,” Gobert said. “They are a very unique team, a very, very good team, and you know they’re very good when they play small. But we’re also a big team, and we also have opportunities to punish teams when they go small on both ends of the floor. It’s going to be up to us as a team and myself to play our best basketball either way.”

Mike Conley knows Gobert must be big, in more than one way.

“He’s going to have to be huge,” the veteran point guard said. “He knows that. He has prepared himself for this. He has worked himself into really great shape. He knows we’re going to have to utilize him a lot.”