Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Ricky Rubio missed more than 12 months with a torn ACL, so patience will be needed as the 32-year-old works himself back into game shape.
Though he’s played in nine games since his return on Jan. 12, when he scored nine points in 10 minutes as the Cavs took down the Portland Trail Blazers, Rubio has yet to play in a back-to-back or play at least 20 minutes in any contest. It’s clear that Cleveland doesn’t want to overexert the floor general, and Rubio admits that he “thought [he] was closer than [he] was,” per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
Rubio is averaging just 4.8 points on 31.3 percent shooting from the field and 32.1 percent from 3-point range. So, it’s reasonable to suspect that he may have needed more time before he was ready to get back on the court.
Nonetheless, Rubio shot 36.3 percent from the field last season and 38.8 percent from the field the season prior to that. While his ability to run an offense smoothly in the second unit was a breath of fresh air for the Cavs, Rubio’s inefficiency this season isn’t necessarily an anomaly. When including his current performance, the former fifth overall pick has shot below 40 percent from the field in eight of his 12 career seasons.
Still, Rubio’s stamina and rhythm aren’t where he would want them to be ideally, and that’s reasonable. Luckily, it’s a long season, and he should have plenty of time to get back to himself. Especially with starting point guard Darius Garland sizzling as of late, with averages of 22.2 points and 8.6 assists on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 43.8 percent shooting from 3-point range in his last five contests.