Tired Jazz Survive Pacers Thanks To Mitchell’s Herculean Effort

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz won their 15th game in their last 16 outings by beating the Indiana Pacers 103-95 Sunday afternoon.

The Jazz finished their road trip a perfect 3-0 and maintained ownership of the best record in the NBA at 19-5.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 29 and nearly recorded his first career triple-double by handing out 11 assists and grabbing nine rebounds.

Someone should tell @SHAQ that @spidadmitchell nearly had a triple double (with 11 assists) and the @utahjazz won on the road.#TakeNote https://t.co/ANfGWk1zQ0

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 7, 2021

Mitchell’s Herculean Effort

The Jazz entered the game without Mike Conley for the first time this season. Conley experienced hamstring tightness in Friday night’s win over the Charlotte Hornets and missed Sunday’s game, despite warming up before tip-off.

As a result, Mitchell had to carry an enormous load throughout the game, and the Jazz needed every second of it.

The All-Star guard set the tone by scoring 11 points in the first quarter after his teammates got off to a slow start. The Jazz were down 12-6 after the opening three minutes of the game, and everyone not named Mitchell struggled to put the ball in the hoop.

Non-Mitchell Jazz players finished the opening period shooting just 5-15 from the floor for 14 total points, yet they led the Pacers 25-20 after 12 minutes.

In the second quarter, Mitchell’s scoring fell off, shooting just 2-7 from the floor for five points, but he helped the Jazz finish the half well by grabbing three rebounds and handing out three assists in nine second quarter minutes.

More importantly, the guard recognized he could pick apart the Pacers low post defenders with his passing, getting Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert good looks at the rim throughout the rest of this game.

This is just one example of the several highlight-reel passes Mitchell made en route to 11 assists.

this pass will go on the @spidadmitchell highlight reel #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/bYE7hUMga8

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 7, 2021

Mitchell had a modest third quarter scoring five points on 2-6 shooting while adding three assists. But it was the fourth-year star’s final quarter that underscored just how impressive his performance was.

Having already played 27 minutes, Mitchell played 10:38 seconds of the fourth quarter, scored six points, handed out five assists, and grabbed three rebounds to close out the Pacers.

Without Conley, on the third game of a three-game road trip, in a game that started at 11 am MST, having played their third game in under 72 hours, Mitchell saved his absolute best for the last 12 minutes of the Jazz road swing and propelled them a victory.

He’s had more impressive scoring quarters in his career, and he’s carried the Jazz through entire halves in the playoffs, but to find the energy he had against Indiana despite the headwind leading into the game is a sign of growth in his fourth-year that he hadn’t shown previously in a mid-season road game the Jazz could have understandably flushed away to a Pacers team in need of a win.

We've seen a lot of 'young star' moments from Donovan Mitchell throughout his career but that might have been the most 'veteran star' performance I've seen from him.

Game 24, on the last game of a three game road trip, without Mike Conley.

That was a very mature outing.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 7, 2021

This has a chance to be a turning point win, which is saying something for a team that has the best record in the NBA.

“When you play three games and less than 72 hours, that that last game is definitely gonna be a tough one on the body,” Mitchell said. “So if guys go out there and find ways to make your presence felt, whether it’s driving, penetrating, setting up plays the right way — getting guys locked in and then everybody follows suit.”

Jazz Best Win Of The Season?

When a team has won 15 of the last 16 games, it’s hard to determine what’s the best win of the season, especially when the Jazz have won so many games in dominant fashion.

The Jazz beat the Los Angeles Clippers who have the third-best record in the league after blowing near-20 point leads twice in the same game. They beat Milwaukee on the road to start this streak by hitting a then franchise-record 25 threes against a full-strength Bucks squad that is expected to compete for a championship.

They beat the Denver Nuggets on the road despite a slew of self-induced mistakes and were up on the Golden State Warriors by 40 at one point before settling into a now unremarkable 19 point win.

And still, considering they were without Conley who has been instrumental to the team’s success, having played three games in four days, with an early tip, against a team that desperately needed a win, while not shooting particularly well from the floor, the Jazz got the victory.

This is how Jazz fans responded to the team’s win.

I think it's the most impressive. They missed like 10 straight open threes and won.

— Ryan Hess (@hessrp) February 7, 2021

The Jazz opened the game shooting 9-23 in the first half, which is slightly ahead schedule for their season average of 17 made threes at a 40 percent clip but lost their shooting stroke in the second half.

The team finished the game making just 4-19 threes in the second half and still found a way to win.

I think the Pacers' defense was so good it made the win maybe the most impressive, especially considering no Conley

— Anne CUT THE ANTI-TRANS KID BS, UTAH Jamison (@prof_anne) February 7, 2021

The Pacers haven’t been good since trading Victor Oladipo in mid-January and have now lost five of their last six games, but they play hard and considering the Jazz fatigue, should have had an upper hand in the game, especially in the second half.

The Jazz managed just 103 points on 41 percent shooting from the floor, 31 percent from three, and 66 percent from the free-throw line for one of their least efficient offensive games of the season.

Still, the team managed to claw out a win. The Jazz won’t always be able to outshoot, outrun, and overwhelm teams, but that can’t be an excuse for not knowing how to win games.

The @utahjazz finish their road trip 3-0 and have the best record in the NBA at 19-5.

Jazz beat the @Pacers 103-95.

Extremely impressive performance. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/RzoDfdTPnX

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 7, 2021

After the game, Jazz coach Quin Snyder discussed the variety of styles in teams the Jazz faced during the three-game road trip.

“The other night against Charlotte, a team that played small and was aggressive and blitzed and switched,” Snyder said. “A team tonight with Sabonis and Turner, two bigs, and rim protection. The other night in Atlanta, when they really tried to take away the three from us.”

Championship level teams can win games in a variety of ways, and while the Jazz ability to blow teams out with their three-point shooting is the reason they own the best record in the NBA, wins like the last three show they might be real contenders come June and July.

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