Rubio and Towns Relationship Is Already Blossoming

Last night we saw an on-court relationship that has the potential of blossoming into something special.

While some fans may look at Andrew Wiggins’ play as a downside in last night’s game, one could actually look at it from a different perspective.

Wiggins was clearly bothered by back issues all game and didn’t play aggressively at all, which forced Minnesota to adapt mid-game and go with plan B. Roughly midway through the third quarter, the Wolves started to run a pick-and-roll offense with Ricky Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns.

“On the pick and roll, I was open on the elbow area. I’ve been working hard on that and I knocked down the shots,” Rubio said. “My teammates did a pretty good job with the screens and I think their (Lakers) plan was to let me shoot. I felt good in the beginning and I kept shooting.”

Rubio has never been known as a reliable scorer in the league and for good reason. Over the past four seasons, the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft has never shot better than 39 percent from the field.

Rubio ranked first in total steals and second in total assists in the 2013-2014 NBA season- a season in which he started every game and averaged 32 minutes of playing time.

Although it was just a one game sample size, scoring a career-high 28 points and shooting 59 percent from the field showed a new and improved side to Rubio’s game.

Similar to Rubio, Towns has never been known as an offensive powerhouse. Only playing 21 minutes a game in college due to Kentucky’s ‘platoon’ system, Towns averaged 10 points, seven rebounds and more than two blocks a game.

Towns took advantage of the pick-and-roll offense and went 6-for-10 from the field, thanks to five assists from Rubio.

“I heard we were down by 16 at one point,” Towns said. “We just kept fighting and fighting and we just kept trying to find a way to lower the deficit and we just stayed together as a team.”

If these two young studs continue to build their offensive chemistry, watch out, as they are already known for their rare defensive skills.