After leading the Jazz together for 5 years, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert now find themselves on opposite sides of the court.

After five seasons as teammates, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert will meet for the first time as foes when their new teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves — play Sunday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse (6 ET, League Pass).

The idea, when the playoff-focused Cavs and Wolves acquired the three-time NBA All-Stars from Utah, was that each would thrive beyond the success they’d known in Salt Lake City. Together, in a cooperative and later rancorous relationship, they led the Jazz to a 243-147 record (.623) in five seasons, with playoff appearances each year and two series victories.

Apart? That’s still be to determined so early in this 2022-23 season. The results have been mixed in Cleveland and Minnesota, with an unexpected scenario playing out for the team they left behind.

Mitchell: Just what the Cavs ordered

The void in Cleveland’s surprising return to plus-.500 respectability last season and run to the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament was a take-charge, late-game scorer willing and able to take and make clutch shots. That’s precisely what the Cavaliers got when they traded for Mitchell in September.

The 6-foot-1 combo guard is averaging 31.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 6.1 apg, 39.1 minutes and 21.8 field goal attempts, while shooting 51.3% overall and 43.4% from distance. All are career highs. With Cleveland winning eight of its first nine games, the team and its fans couldn’t have been happier. Stock pickers should do so well so fast.

Some of the luster came off, though, with three consecutive losses to end a five-game trip that wrapped Friday night at Golden State. All the feel-good hasn’t dissipated, but after outscoring opponents by 114 points in those eight victories, it’s a little galling to have dropped four by a total of 17 points.

The swoon to the Warriors, while understandable given the defending champs’ home court and pedigree, revealed some fissures in this early Cavs crew.

Neither backcourt partner, Mitchell nor Darius Garland, stepped up down the stretch; Cleveland scored its final field goal with 4:38 to play and got outscored 19-6. They shot a combined 3-of-12 in the fourth quarter. And both had defensive lapses late, with Mitchell enabling five points in the final minute on a pair of field goals by Steph Curry.

“For the past three games, it’s not even about scoring, it’s about getting good shots and executing,” Mitchell told reporters afterward. “I will be better. If there’s any responsibility for the late-game execution and getting guys in spots, then that’s on me.”

In their own lower-altitude way, Mitchell and Garland are learning to a) co-exist, then b) thrive as two ball-dominant scorers hoping to avoid a classic “my turn, your turn” pitfall. Garland’s numbers have taken a hit: 16.2 ppg, 8.3 apg, 35.2% shooting (30.8% from 3) from what he posted in earning All-Star status last season. Also, he missed six of the first eight games with a left eye injury and the Cavs are 3-3 when he’s played.

Last February, the two were All-Stars playing 1,700 miles apart. Now they have to strike a balance going elbow-to-elbow.

Veteran Kevin Love said to Cleveland.com Friday: “I’m really working on Darius and Donovan coexisting and really finding themselves at the same time when they’re on the floor. They’ve got to become more familiar with each other. … The onus is going to be so much on those guys. The ball is in their hands.”

According to NBA.com, Mitchell and Garland in tandem have logged 145 minutes together, with a minus-2.8 net rating. Cleveland overall leads the league with a plus-7.9 net rating while ranking fourth offensively (114.9) and second defensively (107.0).

Construction continues, then, without the scaffolding still in place in the Twin Cities.

Gobert: Twin towers, double the trouble  

Neither the outcomes nor the statistics are as encouraging at this stage for the Timberwolves. Their 114-103 loss at Memphis on Friday night was their sixth in seven tries since Oct. 30 and their overall play has been south of mediocre: 21st offensively (109.9), 17th defensively (111.6) and 20th in net rating (minus 1.6).

In the front office’s zag vs. zig, Venti-sized experiment of teaming Gobert with Karl-Anthony Towns — each of whom has represented the West three times as an All-Star center — the production has been drearier: 240 minutes together so far, a minus-4.0 rating. And things have been even worse with only one, Gobert (offensively) or Towns (defensively), on the floor.

This was through an alleged easy portion of Minnesota’s schedule, too. Now they face the Cavs, Magic and 76ers on what’s left of this trip, with six of their next eight overall on the road.

There have been a variety of ugly snapshots lately: Trailing the Knicks by 27 points at Target Center Monday. Giving up 32 points via 19 turnovers against Phoenix Wednesday. Then getting burned for 32 second-chance points as their newfound nemeses, the Grizzlies, grabbed 15 offensive boards.

That’s an area, rebounding, where we might expect a squad with two 7-foot stars to dominate. But nope. The Wolves rank 20th in overall rebound percentage (48.7), 19th offensively (27.2) and 27th defensively (68.8). They have outrebounded opponents only six times in the 5-8 start.

Rudy Gobert’s stats this season — 13.9 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 62.9% FG, 1.5 blocks — all are below his career numbers.

Coach Chris Finch laid blame Friday on his perimeter guys, citing a lack of effort for mid-to-long rebounds. But the bigs are off as well: Gobert’s (13.9 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 62.9% FG, 5.4 FTA, 1.5 blocks) all are below his career numbers. Towns (20.7 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 14.6 FGA, 50% FG, 35.6% 3FG) is in the same leaky boat.

The two also have suffered from chronic foul trouble lately, due in part to Finch leaving them in games against the proverbial book (two in the first quarter, three in the second). Getting them reps is vital, but the bottom line has suffered.

It’s not just a matter of Gobert and Towns adjusting to each other. Their teammates have to adapt as well, both in spacing and responsibilities. And right now, potential star Anthony Edwards and not-necessarily-a-point guard D’Angelo Russell have been inconsistent and inattentive. Edwards spent a recent possession against Houston immobile, hands on hips. Russell subbed in late against Phoenix for what played out as a 4-on-5 mess, and then had Finch replace him down the stretch in Memphis with backup Jordan McLaughlin.

Some fans are taking solace from the Wolves’ 4-9 start last season, which blossomed into a 42-27 finished and second postseason appearance since 2004. Others have been conditioned to flinch, though, and can’t overlook the bonanza of players and picks GM Tim Connelly gave to Utah for Gobert.

Towns lauded the talent on hand and the work that, so far, remains mostly behind a curtain. But he has been around the franchise long enough to understand. “We kind of go out and lay some duds, and it’s all like, ‘Oh my God again. Here we go again,’” he said.

Utah: Improvisational Jazz exceed expectations

Fifteen new players at training camp. A 34-year-old rookie coach in Will Hardy. And a roster built largely of complementary players, with just one former All-Star (Mike Conley) and one former Sixth Man winner (Jordan Clarkson).

Yet there the Utah Jazz sat through Friday, at the top of the West with a 10-3 record and high in the statistical rankings. They were third in net rating at plus-6.3, second offensively (116.0) and ninth defensively (109.7). The Jazz also held Top 10 status in 3-point percentage, offensive rebounds, assists, steals, points per game, 3-point defense and forcing turnovers.

Just for comparison’s sake with the Cavs’ and Wolves’ pivotal Big 2, here are parallel stats for Lauri Markkanen and Clarkson: plus-11.1 net rating in 316 minutes together. Markkanen, stymied by injuries for much of his first five seasons, has been a Finnish Dirk Nowitzki, and five of his teammates are stroking 40% or better from 3-point range.

Clarkson starts, Collin Sexton slipped into that sixth-man spot and Kelly Olynyk, with his fourth team in two years, has been rejuvenated.

In sum, not bad for a franchise expected to spend this season fluffing pillows and stocking the mini-fridge, while losing heavily, for all-world Class of 2023 prospect Victor Wembanyama.

“We just kind of looked around and said we’re not anything what they say we are,” veteran guard Mike Conley told The Athletic recently. “We have too many good players to tank. We knew from Day 1. This wasn’t a rebuild. We told ourselves that we aren’t that bad, and the guys locked in on that.”

Some learning curves have tighter radiuses than others.

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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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