[brid autoplay=”true” video=”785433″ player=”23231″ title=”Are%20the%20Clippers%20and%20other%20playoff%20teams%20afraid%20of%20LeBron%20James%20and%20the%20healthy%20Lakers” duration=”113″ description=”Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix tells Carolyn Manno that Los Angeles Lakers are the scariest team in the Western Conference and explains how other teams are strategizing accordingly.” uploaddate=”2021-05-19″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/thumb/785433_t_1621466868.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/17660/sd/785433.mp4″]
To say that the Utah Jazz missed star guard Donovan Mitchell during their Game 1 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA Playoffs Sunday evening would be an understatement.
Mitchell, 24, was forced to sit out the final 16 regular-season games due to an ankle injury he suffered back on April 16 against the Indiana Pacers. Despite his absence, Utah was still able to squeak out the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and the best overall record in the NBA.
With that said, there was some cause for alarm heading into Sunday’s home outing against an upstart Grizzlies team. Memphis was coming off a huge upset road win over the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament days earlier. Meanwhile, Utah was a mediocre (by its standards) 10-6 in the 16 games the team’s MVP missed.
Heading into the Game 1 outing, all indications were that Donovan Mitchell would be able to suit up. That’s why it was a surprise that the star guard was ruled out hours before tip-off in Salt Lake City.
One day later, and it’s being reported that Mitchell was “incensed” with team doctors opting to sit him for the Jazz’ postseason opener.
“Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell was incensed at the late decision to scratch him from Sunday’s playoff opener, and it deepened tensions with the team regarding his recovery from a right ankle sprain,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon reported Monday.
Now down 1-0 in their series against a red-hot Memphis squad, a further divide between Mitchell and his Jazz threatens to derail both Utah’s championship aspirations this year and future relevance on the broader NBA stage. Here’s why.
The absence of Donovan Mitchell exposed Utah in Game 1
Utah finished the regular season No. 1 in the NBA in three-pointers made and three-point attempts. So, it wasn’t a surprise that the Jazz took 47 shots from beyond the arc in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against Memphis.
It’s the lack of success that must be considered a surprise. The Jazz hit on just 12 of those attempts (26%). Those who had success during the regular season shooting from distance bombed out.
- Mike Conley (3-of-11)
- Jordan Clarkson (0-of-8)
- Georges Niang (1-of-6)
Both Conley and Niang shot better than 41% from three-point range during the regular year while NBA Sixth Man candidate Jordan Clarkson shot 35%.
So, what was the issue? Being reliant on the three-point game in today’s NBA is not necessarily a detriment to success. Instead, it’s all about the quality of said shots. With Donovan Mitchell and his driving ability sidelined, the Jazz took a ton of contested threes.
Outside of his scoring prowess, Mitchell provides a ton of open catch-and-shoot opportunities. With him out, Utah’s offense was more stagnant than anything else. There wasn’t much of an inside-out game. If Mitchell is sidelined moving forward in the series or isn’t 100%, Memphis’ length out on the wing will continue to be a big deal — potentially leading to a shocking Round 1 departure for the NBA’s “best team.”
Donovan Mitchell drama is nothing new for the Utah Jazz
It was March 11 of last year that the 2019-20 NBA season was suspended after Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. For many around the sports world, this was a major wake-up call that the pandemic was actually more serious than Gobert himself took it ahead of testing positive.
Behind the scenes in Salt Lake City, a rift was growing between Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz’ star center. Mitchell was not happy about Gobert’s unwillingness to take the virus seriously before testing positive. Once he contracted COVID-19 from his teammate, Mitchell was outraged.
While the two have since mended their relationship, there’s a possibility that we’re seeing a correlation here. Utah found itself at 41-23 when the season was suspended last March. Once it picked up in the Orlando bubble, the Jazz finished up with a 3-5 record before blowing a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
This isn’t to say that Gobert’s positive COVID test impacted Utah’s title aspirations. The season was always going to be suspended due to the growing nature of the pandemic in the United States at the time. But there has to be some legitimate concern that Mitchell still isn’t 100% over what happened more than 14 months ago.
The backdrop here is a Jazz team that faces the real possibility of being just the second No. 1 seed eliminated from the playoffs by an eighth seed. Losing at home without Mitchell in the mix on Sunday adds another layer to that. Should his absence in said game play a role in Utah’s premature departure from the 2021 NBA Playoffs, we could very well see this drama boil over between Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz during the summer.