DeMarcus Cousins roasts 4x DPOY Rudy Gobert's horrid defensive stretch against Lakers

The LA Lakers evened things up on Tuesday night in a hard-fought Game 2. They took down the Minnesota Timberwolves 94-85 in a game that was much more lop-sided than one would tell from the final score.

JJ Redick's team was much more physical than they were in Game 1, and while the Timberwolves actually shot five more free throws (25), the Lakers won the battle in the trenches.

Notably, Luka Doncic kept going at Rudy Gobert over and over and he finished the game with 31 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

That's why, when talking about the most overrated players in the league, former All-Star DeMarcus Cousins took yet another shot at Gobert.

Talking on FanDuel TV's 'Run It Back,' Cousins questioned Gobert's defensive credentials after that performance:

"You can't be a four-time Defensive Player of the Year and get played off the floor," Cousins said.

When told that Gobert hadn't won the award this season, Cousins recalled that this has been a constant trend with Gobert in the past:

"The thing is, the same thing was happening, in the same year," Cousins continued.

Cousins, like other current and former big men, has been quite critical of Gobert in the past, as the French big man has often been targeted on both ends of the floor in the playoffs.

Rudy Gobert says the Timberwolves have to set the tone

Gobert scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 29 minutes in the loss. Following the game, he claimed that it was up to the Timberwolves to set the tone and make a statement, and they had to focus on what they could control:

“We don’t want to match the intensity. We want to bring the intensity. I think it’s about focusing on us. We know that. We know they’re going to be very physical. We don’t know which adjustment they’re going to make, but we know that they’re going to bring some physicality. It’s on us to bring that to them,” he said.

The Timberwolves have the personnel to make life difficult for any team in the league, including the Lakers. They can switch over and over, and they're a physical and bruising team that can make every bucket difficult to get.

Now, the series will travel to Minneapolis for the next three games, and it will be up to Gobert to prove that he can hold his own on defense and stay on the court down the stretch.