With Cleveland Cavaliers playing their best basketball in ages, Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland are flourishing as a duo
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The Cleveland Cavaliers, a lottery team until last season, have surprised everyone in the league. They hold the #3 spot in the eastern conference despite the absence of Collin Sexton due to a knee injury.
The rebuild mode after LeBron James‘ departure seems to have come to fruition. In all of the 2020-21 season, Cleveland Cavaliers won 22 games. This time around, they already have 19 wins with more than half of the 2021-22 season left. This is a promising sign for the front office even though they are not in contention for the title.
The addition of Ricky Rubio to the mix has clearly turned things around. Rookie Evan Mobley is putting up good numbers as well. Half of their roster is in health and safety protocols at the moment. As a result, they’ve had to cancel a few games.
Cleveland Cavaliers have top defensive rating with Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland on the floor
The young core of Cleveland Cavaliers has found a leader in Ricky Rubio. Offensively, he is in career-high territory despite coming off the bench. Prior to Collin Sexton’s season-ending knee injury, the Cavs were dominating with the sex-land duo in focus. Although they lost games after he was sidelined, the Cavs have managed to climb up the ladder once again.
“LET ‘EM KNOW!”
Darius Garland speaks on his team’s defensive intensity, rookie Evan Mobley’s aggressiveness and Ricky Rubio’s leadership after the @cavs 19-point comeback win! 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/eRmjYZqDyn
— NBA (@NBA) November 14, 2021
Surprisingly, Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland have strong arguments in their favor to be ranked as the #1 backcourt in the NBA. The Cavs currently rank second in defensive rating behind GSW and first when Rubio and Garland are present on the court together. The duo does a commendable job on the offensive end as well.
In the 468 minutes that the duo has shared, the Cavs have a net rating of +16.7, the highest in the league. The sample size of these two playing together and individually is large enough to trust the stats. Their impact is not as strong individually but when playing alongside each other, Ricky Rubio and Darius Garland are a perfect fit.
Currently, on a 6-game win streak, Cleveland Cavaliers will next face Boston Celtics on 23rd December after a break of 4 days due to Covid restrictions.
