Mitchell scores 30 to lift Jazz over Nuggets
Donovan Mitchell remained patient with Denver's defense making things difficult for him.
Instead of forcing the issue, he simply distributed the ball — until his opening arrived.
Mitchell scored 21 of his 30 points in a big third quarter and the Utah Jazz beat the Nuggets 124-105 on Wednesdayin Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to even the first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
All part of his maturation as a playmaker.
“The biggest thing for me is reading the situation,” Mitchell explained. “My first years, I kind of saw the rim, being a scorer. I prided myself over the quarantine just how to become play-maker. Find a way to get the team involved. It may not always be scoring. I think today, just trusted my teammates.”
Mitchell was an efficient 10 of 14 from the floor and added eight assists. He helped the Jazz break open the game in the third quarter and increase the lead to 31 in the fourth.
His performance was on the heels of scoring a Jazz playoffrecord 57 points in a 135-125 overtime loss in Game 1. Naturally, Mitchell was the focus as the Nuggets tried take away his drives to the right side.
“Anytime you put two guys on the ball, you're going to give something up,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
CELTICS ROUT SIXERS
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers to take a 2-0 lead in the firstround Eastern Conference playoff series.
Tatum scored a career playoff high for the second straight game after scoring 32 points in the opener Monday.
Kemba Walker added 22 points and Jaylen Brown had 20 for the Celtics. Boston shot 51% from the field and committed just seven turnovers, including two in the first three quarters.
Joel Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds for the 76ers, and Josh Richardson added 18 points.
LIGHTNING BEATS BLUE JACKETS TO ADVANCE
The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated Columbus from the Stanley Cup playoffs in five games on Wednesday in Toronto, rallying from a two-goal, third-period deficit before beating the Blue Jackets 5-4 on Brayden Point's goal 5:12 into overtime.
Point also delivered the winner in Game 1 of the best-ofseven series, a five-overtime thriller that wound up being the fourth-longest game in NHL history.
Kevin Shattenkirk and Anthony Cirelli scored in the final eight minutes of regulation to wipe out a 4-2 deficit. Earlier, Columbus scored four consecutive times to overcome an early two-goal deficit of its own.
BRUINS ELIMINATE ’CANES
Patrice Bergeron broke a tie with 3.5 seconds left in the second period, David Pastrnak returned with two assists and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, to win the first-round playoff series in five games.
The Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the final 5 minutes of the second period before scoring twice on the power play, first from David Krejci with 4:40 left after Bergeron drew a penalty on a breakaway chance.
Then came Bergeron's score as the teams appeared headed to the second intermission tied at 1. He tracked down a loose rebound from Pastrnak that hit the boards, then quickly sent the puck back toward the net from the left side.
AVALANCHE IN A ROUT
Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Nazem Kadri also scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche routed the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 on Wednesday to close out the first-round playoff series in five games.
Colorado, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, took control of the series with a Game 4 blowout and skated into the next round with three first-period goals in Game 5.
Kadri scored two goals for the second straight game, both in the first period, and finished with five in the series. Samuel Girard also had a goal in the first and MacKinnon scored twice in 58 seconds of the second to put Colorado up 5-0.