Donovan Mitchell Goes Above Rim For ‘Unbelievable’ Block

MELBOURNE, Australia – Utah Jazz rising star Donovan Mitchell came flying in from behind for a massive block during the first quarter of Team USA’s exhibition game against the Australian national team.

The thwarted shot came early in the game Thursday, with the US leading the Aussies 9-5 with 5:27 left in the first quarter.

Boomers’ guard Chris Goulding was driving towards the basket against the Brooklyn Nets’ Joe Harris when he dropped his shoulder to create space for an easy layup.

Mitchell seemingly came out of nowhere to block Goulding’s shot and swatted the ball against the backboard – using all of his 36.5-inch vertical jump to keep the ball from dropping into the hoop.

“Look where his head is – his head’s up near the rim!” said one the Australian broadcast analysts.

“Unbelievable!” said the other.

🚫 @spidadmitchell SWAT! 🚫

🇺🇸 17
🇦🇺 16

📺: @NBATV
💻📱: https://t.co/HbtDcrFgfZ pic.twitter.com/YVDak4ELog

— NBA (@NBA) August 22, 2019

The US team went on to beat the Australians, 102-86.

Mitchell started for Team USA. He scored 13 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, and that fantastic block, while playing 25 minutes. He shot 6-of-15 from the field, including 1-for-5 from downtown.

The Jazz guard has been playing with USA Basketball, getting ready for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The competition begins at the end of August in China.

Mitchell and Team USA played their first of two games against Australia. The next matchup comes on Saturday, August 24 in Melbourne at 10 p.m. mountain time Friday. The game will be broadcast on NBA TV and Twitch.tv/nba.

 

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Run it back! 🇦🇺🇺🇸 Time for #BoomersUSA Round 2: 12:00am/et on @nbatv & NBA @twitch!

A post shared by NBA (@nba) on Aug 23, 2019 at 6:17pm PDT