In Wednesday night’s season-opening game in Sacramento, Ricky Rubio had arguably his worst outing with the Jazz, scoring just a single point. But his backup, Dante Exum, stepped up with 13.
And while star guard Donovan Mitchell has been pressing the first two games, the backcourt backups have picked up the slack, with Alec Burks scoring 13 points against the Kings, and Exum again notching 13 in Friday’s home opener against the Warriors.
Derrick Favors, meanwhile, was limited to just five points and five rebounds against Golden State, but Jae Crowder validated his minutes as a small-ball four with 17 and seven.