After years on the trading block in Minnesota, Ricky Rubio finally looked at home in Utah on Monday night.
It was after the seventh of the eight field goals he hit in a 104-89 win over the Dallas Mavericks — a 20-foot jump shot — when Rubio played to the 16,221 present at Vivint Smart Home Arena, raising his arms as they shouted louder and louder.
Everyone’s been asking how the 26-year-old has been settling in with a new team in a new city. That moment seemed to answer the question.
“[The fans] have a really good chemistry with the team, you can see they love basketball and they come here to have fun,” Rubio said. “I’m having fun, too.”
It was an all-around pleasant evening for the Utah Jazz (4-3) in the victory, as the starting unit featuring Rubio at the point seemed to jell as well as it has all season.
Utah’s second-half comeback against the struggling Mavericks (1-7) unleashed all of its weapons: a slick-shooting Rodney Hood (25 points), who spurred a third-quarter swing; stat-sheet-stuffing Rudy Gobert (17 points, 12 rebounds) who finished with a four-by-five night in addition to his double-double; Joe Ingles and Derrick Favors in supporting roles as playmakers and stifling Dallas shooters after halftime.
Throughout the early season, the biggest question mark has been Rubio: How would he blend? Could he surpass his reputation as a mediocre shooter? In his seventh game, the Spainard scored 20 points, notched six assists and grabbed four steals — offering arguably the most hopeful signs yet that he can be a complementary piece to the Jazz’s grand vision. While Rubio is personally trying to grow his game to become a more versatile shooting threat, coach Quin Snyder said, his investment in the team is starting to show.
“I see him talking to more guys on the floor,” he said. “If you have a team that has a chance to be connected, that communication on the court is where it manifests itself. He was at the forefront of that.”
At least while the starting lineup was on the floor, the Jazz hummed with an efficiency they had yet to show in the regular season. Starting the evening as the most turnover-prone team in the league through six games, the Jazz held themselves to to only 14 giveaways against the Mavericks. The ball moved easily: Three Jazzmen had six assists — Rubio, Ingles and Gobert.
That surge truly began after halftime, when Utah started down by nine points. Buckling down on Maverick 3-point shooters who had tormented them in the first half (a sizzling 9 for 14), Utah keyed a 23-4 run that completely flipped the game.
While Gobert helped anchor on the defensive end with six blocks, it was Hood who was suddenly unguardable: The fourth-year guard scored 15 in the third alone, including three 3-pointers.
“My teammates were telling me to be more aggressive,” Hood said. “I saw some opportunities to get some clean looks from three, and it took off from there.”
After an off-night against the Lakers, Gobert looked liked the centerpiece on both sides of the floor, needing only five shot attempts to score his 17. It helped that he also got to the free throw line for 12 attempts and hit nine — he didn’t get the same calls in his last home game.
Leading the effort for Dallas was veteran Dirk Nowitzki, who managed 18 points with his smooth, time-tested shooting stroke. But the Jazz hassled the German 7-footer as well, getting several of the team’s 16 total steals as the Mavericks attempted to feed him late in the game.
Utah essentially clinched the win off one of those plays as Dallas threatened a comeback: Rookie Donovan Mitchell prodded a ball free on a careless pass by Yogi Ferrell and found a sprinting Thabo Sefolosha, who finished with a high-arcing reverse layup. Soon, Utah’s lead was back in double-digits.
It was disappointing for Dallas, which benefitted from 17 first-half points from the speedy J.J. Barea — who has played Jazz agitator in the past. As the pint-size guard zig-zagged through Utah’s perimeter defenders for layups and hit 3-pointers to match, the Mavericks led by as many as 14 points.
But after halftime, the stat box was turned nearly upside down as Barea was held scoreless. Utah made 10 of 19 from 3-point range, while Dallas (one of the five best 3-point shooting teams in the league) could only get three more. Snyder’s mantra of “guard your yard” truly took hold late after the Jazz’s help defense was torn apart in the first half.
“We feel like they made a lot of tough shots in the first half,” Gobert said. “We needed to be smarter not to over-help against this team. We came out second half and did that, and got stops.”