Ricky Rubio played a key role in the Utah Jazz’s big second-half run in 2017-18. He may have saved his best for the playoff race this season, too.
What a difference a day makes, huh? Less than 24 hours after Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio logged eight turnovers — including one particularly head-scratching lob pass that was misfired in the waning moments of regulation — and was minus-seven in a game his team lost by one, he turned things around in a major way on Saturday.
In a bounce-back win over the Dallas Mavericks, Rubio dropped 25 points on just 14 shots, didn’t commit a single turnover and was a team-high 16 points positive in the plus/minus department.
Clearly, that’s a huge uptick. And if history repeats itself, Rubio’s game could jump up several notches over the final third of the 2018-19 season. He has a history of getting lit after the All-Star break; not just last year, but even in his days with the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves.
Last season, Rubio’s stretch run was a key component of the Jazz’s incredible finish. In games following the February “classic,” Rubio averaged 15 points, six assists, five rebounds and nearly two steals per contest. Along the way, he logged a 44-41-88 shooting line and boasted a massive net rating of 16.4.
Without his production, the Jazz don’t go 17-6 over that span and they likely don’t win their first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, either. And, again, Rubio saving his best for last is nothing new.
During his final days with the T-Wolves — we’re talking post-ASB 2017 — Tricky Ricky put up 16 points, more than 10 assists and 1.5 thefts per contest. He also notched a respectable 42-35-92 shooting line and managed a positive net rating for a net negative squad.
No one can say for sure whether we’ll get more of Good Ricky or Bad Ricky as the Jazz make that last push for 50 wins and a favorable playoff seed. But if we’re using past performance as a predictor, there’s absolutely reason to believe we’ll be seeing more of the former.
Even now, just as the anti-Rubio crowd grows louder, the 28-year-old is in the midst of a month during which he’s averaged 16-6-5 and shot 48 percent from the floor. Despite the increasing noise about his play — particularly in light of Utah’s failed efforts to acquire Mike Conley at the trade deadline — that’s pretty darn good.
Still, fans, pundits and front office people alike are within their right to question whether Rubio helps the in the long-term. J-Noter Jared Woodcox represented the nay-sayers well here and I, for one, definitely don’t see the Jazz reaching their potential while both Rubio and Derrick Favors are consistently sharing major minutes on the floor.
The spacing just gets too clunky with them and Rudy Gobert giving the Jazz’s starting five three non-threats from deep. And if Gobert is locked-in as a franchise cornerstone, something else probably has to give.
That said, Rubio’s game, judged solely on its own merits, is running strong on the whole, and it may just be on the brink of exploding for the third straight stretch run.
Oh, and also — team chemistry! Amirite?