Thanks to an unlikely backcourt partnership, the Utah Jazz emerge from the first 50 games of this season better off than they were last May.

Coach Quin Snyder credits the grind of the season for forcing his players to build familiarity, especially when it comes to the starting backcourt of Ricky Rubio and Donovan Mitchell. After seven straight victories, including four of 19 points or more, the lessons they’ve learned are driving success few expected would come so quickly.

“He has been working really hard on connectivity with his teammates,” Snyder said following a 129-97 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 2, praising Rubio’s quick integration into the organization.

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Developing connections is a process Rubio has never had to confront. The struggle to develop a jump shot is well-documented, but Rubio could always be counted upon to create opportunities for his teammates. Yet with by far the lowest assist percentage of his career and uncharacteristic turnovers throughout the season, Rubio is still finding his way.

Utah’s system is unlike any that Rubio has ever had to play in. That’s mostly because it does not revolve around him. Rubio gained renown — as a teenager — because he passed like Indiana Jones uses a whip, finding avenues through and around opposing defenses. For the Jazz, Rubio is just a piece.

Everyone in Snyder’s system is simultaneously an initiator and finisher. The other players on the team will screen for Rubio before he catches a pass, and then a pay will unfold below him. He must survey on the fly.

Mitchell constantly works himself open, earning every possession he gets. The balancing act between the two takes work, and it’s been dicey throughout the season. The key, as Mitchell put it, is to stay aggressive and not be afraid to communicate when success doesn’t immediately come.

“Being able to encourage each other is a big part of our relationship,” Mitchell said.

Watching the team over the first couple months of the season, the haste with which the roster was put together was apparent. Utah lost two productive starters, Gordon Hayward and George Hill, to free agency. They had to make a long trip to the bank to keep a third, Joe Ingles.

For the second straight season, Utah has also had to struggle through injuries to its core players. All-Defensive center Rudy Gobert has missed nearly half of the team’s games. The team hasn’t been able to rely on the same bench from night to night. The team points toward Gobert’s absence, particularly, as a barrier to the type of chemistry they hoped to build. He is perhaps their best player, and the Jazz have a different identity without him.

“It feels better when you know who is going to play,” Rubio said. “That chemistry is building up now, and it’s showing.”

Utah’s point differential has recently risen to the top half of the league. They have the NBA’s 15th-best offense along with a top-10 defense. Snyder’s system is patiently creating the situations it always has — more open shots for his team than you’d expect and hardly any at all for the opponent.

Ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, the Jazz were able to snag Jae Crowder from Cleveland in return for Rodney Hood, who in his fourth season has failed to take seize the opening created with Hayward’s departure. Utah was shopping Hood to get an asset back before he reached free agency this summer, and Crowder fits well.