Mitchell scores 38, Jazz beat Thunder to win in first round

Salt Lake City — Donovan Mitchell arrived at the arena wearing a white hoodie featuring the Mona Lisa. He left the court having authored a playoff masterpiece. Even when the Jazz trailed in the first half, Utah coach Quin Snyder reminded Mitchell what he was capable of accomplishing.

“We're going to win this game and you're going to go off,” Mitchell said his coach told him. “When you got a coach telling you that, your mindset changes and maybe you don't need to be nervous anymore.”

Mitchell scored 38 points and the Jazz held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-91 in Game 6 on Friday night to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

Though the game got tight, Mitchell looked like he was having the time of his life.

“I don't know if you've noticed but I smile through everything,” said Mitchell, the third rookie over last 35 years to have multiple 30-point games in a playoff series, joining Alonzo Mourning and Michael Jordan.

At one point, Mitchell made 10 straight shots.

“I was in a different mode. It was crazy,” Mitchell said.

Russell Westbrook had 46 points for the Thunder and Steven Adams added 19 points and 16 rebounds.

After the game, an agitated Westbrook confronted a fan and took a swipe at his arm before security whisked him to the locker room.

“I don't confront fans. Fans confront me. Here in Utah, a lot of disrespectful, vulgar things are said to the players here,” Westbrook said. “It's just a disrespect to the game and needs to be brought up. I'm tired of just going out and playing and then fans say what the hell they want to say.”

The rookie and the MVP went back and forth in the second half, with Mitchell and the Jazz moving on to face the top-seeded Houston Rockets in a series that starts Sunday.

“For me, personally, beating a guy I looked up to and I model my game after is special,” Mitchell said of Westbrook.

Derrick Favors scored 13 points and Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost starting point guard Ricky Rubio to a left hamstring injury in the first quarter.

The Jazz took their biggest lead when Gobert hit two free throws to make it 86-73 with 7:04 remaining.