Mitchell scores career-high 22; Jazz beat Lakers, 96-81
SALT LAKE CITY—Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 22 points and the Utah Jazz held on for a 96-81 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
The victory broke a twogame losing streak for the Jazz.
The Jazz jumped out to a 21-7 lead thanks to a 16-3 run highlighted by a floater from Mitchell after he pump-faked Lonzo Ball and got to his spot with a euro-step. The Lakers, however, hung around throughout the night and made it a game in the fourth quarter, but never led.
Ricky Rubio scored a season-high 21 points, had seven rebounds and four assists for the Jazz while Derrick Favors had his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mitchell's corner 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining gave the Jazz a 91-79 lead and put the game away.
Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 16 points and Jordan Clarkson put up 15 off the bench. Ball, the No. 2 overall draft pick, finished with nine points, two rebounds and four assists—the rebounds and assists were season lows.
Utah cruised through the second quarter before the Lakers found some momentum in the third and cut the lead to eight points thanks to nine third-quarter points from Ingram.
Mitchell put together one of the best stretches of his young career to push the lead back to 75-64 at the end the quarter. The No. 12 overall draft pick had an old school three-point play, a monstrous rebound dunk and a 3 from the top of the arc in just over 2 minutes.
An 8-2 run to start the fourth quarter cut the Jazz lead to 77-72, but the Lakers were never quite able to get over the hump.
TIP-INS
Lakers: Rookie Kyle Kuzma played his first game back in Salt Lake City after spending three years at the University of Utah. He went to his favorite breakfast spot and saw his former barber before the game. ... The Lakers shot 5 for 22 from 3-point range.
Jazz: Coach Quin Snyder wants more aggression from Rodney Hood as the team needs his scoring having lost Gordon Hayward and George Hill. Hood had a game-high nine attempts in the first half. ... Rudy Gobert had his worst statistical game of the season with six points and eight rebounds.
ROUGH FOR ROOKIES
Ball has started all six games for the Lakers and Mitchell has started three and been the first guard off the bench for the Jazz. Both entered the game struggling with their shot as Ball was shooting 31.3 percent and Mitchell 25.0 percent.
Lakers coach Luke Walton talked about the challenges rookies face.
"No. 1, the size, strength and quickness of everybody in this league," Walton said. "No. 2, the 3-point line is further back. Teams scout much more in depth in the NBA. And the schedule is crazy for these guys.
"Any rookie that can contribute in the NBA is impressive. ... If you're a rookie and can get anything done at this level consistently, it's impressive."
UP NEXT
Lakers: Host Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Jazz: Host Harrison Barnes and the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.