Mitchell Wows As Jazz Turn In Magnificent Performance

SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell returned and the flood gates opened for the Utah Jazz as they throttled the Brooklyn Nets 125-102.

Reinvigorated by their young star, the Jazz had their easiest win of the new year playing with a rarely seen energy and ease over the last month.

Mitchell scored 27 points on 8-10 shooting, one of the most efficient scoring nights of the season as the Jazz won consecutive games after snapping their five-game losing streak on Wednesday.

Mitchell Return Sparks Jazz A+ Performance

While Mitchell’s night was spectacular in its own right, leading the Jazz in scoring in just 21 minutes while also handing out six assists and several highlights along the way, the way his teammates responded was ultimately what led to the blowout.

Mitchell scored or assisted on the first 12 points for the Jazz and the rest of the roster did most of the heavy lifting the rest of the way.

Six players scored in double-digits, five players had four assists or more, two players recorded point-rebound double-doubles, and eight players shot 50 percent or better from the floor.

The Nets were wildly shorthanded missing both Kevin Durant and James Harden and were struggling even before coming into Utah, but the Jazz made a point slam the door shut on the game from the opening tip.

🕷 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2022) 🔥#TakeNote #BKNvsUTA https://t.co/ADDnV5Uf9R

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 5, 2022

After a brutal stretch that saw the Jazz drop 11 of 14 games, including losing streaks of four and five games, winning back-to-back games, including one of their most thorough performances of the season against the Nets was a welcome change of pace.

“He takes pressure off the other guys, especially Mike [Conley],” acting head coach Alex Jensen said. “There’s so much focus other teams have on him that it frees up other guys offensively — he’s Donovan Mitchell, it makes life a lot easier for everybody.”

With Mitchell back on the floor, the Jazz got several notable performances throughout the roster.

Bojan Bogdanovic recorded the fourth double-double of his career scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.

Udoka Azubuike recorded his first career double-double scoring a career-high 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Donovan Mitchell's 27 points are the most points he's scored in a game when he's taken 10 shots or fewer.

Only he, Eric Gordon, and Kevin Durant have done that this season.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 5, 2022

Off the bench, Trent Forrest and Jared Butler combined for 13 assists, while Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside combined for 31 points and 10 rebounds on 12-18 shooting.

After the win, Mitchell said he wasn’t surprised by the way his teammates played after watching them from the bench, despite racking up losses.

“That’s the mark of a team that’s composed and you understand you’ve got to go through adversity to get to the top,” Mitchell said. “It’s having fun with the game,  even in our losses. I can’t say our losses were fun, but you look at the effort — the energy is just different.”

Update On Snyder And House Jr.

As the week has been dominated by the news that Joe Ingles had suffered a torn ACL and that Mitchell was returning from his concussion, head coach Quin Snyder and 10-day contract forward Danuel House Jr. being sidelined by COVID-19 has gone a little under the radar.

Before facing the Nets the team offered updates on both members of the franchise.

After winning his first game as the acting head coach of the team on Wednesday, Jensen offered an explanation of Snyder’s involvement in the Jazz’s day-to-day operations.

“The process is actually the same, we met with coach on Zoom yesterday and today and there’s been a lot of moving parts with our lineup,” Jensen said. “So it’s no different other than obviously he’s not here.”

Snyder can’t be on a Zoom call with the team during the games, but Jensen said the team’s rotations are predetermined, allowing the veteran coach to still dictate as much of the game as possible remotely.

“The communication is good,” Jensen said. “We have meetings before the game so we can avoid any surprises.”

But, that doesn’t necessarily mean Snyder is having an easy time being away from his team.

“I’m sure it probably drives him crazy, but he’s been great,” Jensen said.

While Snyder should return to the team in short order, House Jr.’s future in Utah is less certain. The guard is on a 10-day contract with the Jazz that is set to expire on Sunday.

With the news that Danuel House Jr. isn't playing tonight, that means @utahjazz fans won't see him again in in uniform on his current 10-day deal which expires Sunday.

Also, he's already signed his league-max second traditional 10-day contract.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 5, 2022

Having already signed the league-maximum two 10-day deals, the veteran’s next deal with the Jazz should he return has to be a traditional contract that would keep him with the team through the end of the season.

House Jr. 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in seven appearances with the Jazz while shooting 48 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three. While it’s not a guarantee that he’ll be back with the team before the trade deadline, he’s shown he can contribute when given the opportunity.

Jazz Not Only Team Facing Deadline Stress

The NBA trade deadline is on February 10, and it’s clearly been weighing on Jazz players this season more than in recent years.

After a miserable January, it was clear the Jazz had work to do to catch the top teams in the West, and with the addition of Danny Ainge, one of the league’s most notorious wheeler-and-dealers, the idea that a shakeup was coming felt more like a matter of when and not if.

That is still the case, and even after Ingles season-ending injury, it seems like an inevitability that the veteran guard’s expiring contract will be moved in the next week.

While it’s been a difficult month for the Jazz leading up to the deadline, they can find some solace that they’re not the only ones dealing with the issue.

Shortly before tip-off, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Nets were looking to engage with the Philadelphia 76ers on a deal that would send Harden to the Sixers in exchange for embattled guard Ben Simmons.

Report: Nets open to possible Harden for Simmons trade before deadline https://t.co/Ko55bFERas

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) February 4, 2022

Harden has been one of the league’s most disappointing players this season averaging a 12-year low in scoring and his lowest efficiency shooting the ball since his rookie year.

The superstar guard’s issues came to a head in the Nets Wednesday night loss to the Sacramento Kings when Harden managed just four points on 2-11 shooting.

Making matters worse, the guard committed six turnovers as Brookyln was outscored by 21 points in his 37 minutes on the floor.

Similar to the Jazz, the Nets’ injuries and recent losing streak have only upped the team’s anxiety ahead of the trade deadline. Brookyln rolled into Utah having lost six straight, and aren’t expected to see Kevin Durant return until after the All-Star break.

Luckily for the Jazz, they aren’t looking at trading any of their top three pieces at this deadline, nor in the immediate future. Regardless of what happens over the next week, the core of the Jazz will remain unchanged.

The Nets have the most talent in the NBA at the top of their roster, and it’s launched them into the stratosphere of contenders in less than 24 months. But after just one short losing streak, the pressure to overhaul the roster is threatening to tear the team apart.

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