USA TODAY International Edition
Jazz rookie Mitchell takes blame
Utah star scores 10 in loss to Houston
SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell was the darling of these NBA playoffs.
The precocious Jazz rookie played with the poise of a veteran and the pop of an All-Star. He left fans, media members and even his peers in awe of his talent, with his early postseason performances so dominant that he was sharing sentences with greats the likes of Michael Jordan. He even earned Kobe Bryant’s attention, as the Lakers legend recently chose Mitchell as the second star to be featured in his new film room show, Detail, on ESPN+.
But by the time he was back at the familiar postgame podium on Friday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena, where the Jazz fell behind Houston 2-1 in the Western Conference semifinals with a 113-92 loss, Mitchell had turned from magical to morose. Scoring a playoff-low 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting with three assists and three turnovers tends to have that effect.
“It’s like I would have been better off not showing up, and that’s what I did,” Mitchell, who entered the game ranked sixth among playoff scorers at 26.1 points per game, said while sharing the spotlight with teammates Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale. “I didn’t show up at all for my teammates. I’ll fix it.”
It won’t be easy. Not only is Mitchell saddled with a significant workload because of the continued absence of point guard Ricky Rubio (hamstring), but this Rockets defense is for real.
For all the focus on the Rockets’ offense this season, it was their defensive improvement that elevated them to the top of the NBA (from 18th in defensive rating in the 2016-17 season to sixth). From point guard Chris Paul down to Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah a Moute, P.J. Tucker, Clint Capela and all the rest, Houston’s roster is loaded with defensive-minded players who have a way of figuring out even the best of scorers.
In Mitchell’s case, he saw a steady diet of the best the Rockets have to offer.
On his 16 shooting possessions, Mitchell faced seven different Rockets defenders (Ariza, Capela, Tucker, Mbah a Moute, James Harden, Eric Gordon, Gerald Green). Capela was the unofficial MVP when it came to slowing Mitchell, as the Rockets’ 23-year-old center showed an impressive ability to keep pace on the perimeter and repeatedly chase him all the way to the rim.
It began with Ariza early in the first quarter, with the veteran small forward chasing Mitchell along the left side, yielding to Capela for a brief moment and then reappearing to block his runner. Harden took over from there, keeping his feet up top as Mitchell pumpfaked three times before having his three-pointer tipped by the Rockets star. By the time Mitchell had taken five shots — Mbah a Moute blocked his runner on the right side — the Jazz were already down 32-12.
“A lot of switching, a lot of overplaying him,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “All of them understand how important (Mitchell) is to the team and how talented he is. But just trying to get in the passing lane, trying to keep the ball out of his hands as much we can, trying to make him drive as much we can.”
When the Rockets reflected on their Game 2 loss to Utah on Wednesday, they all agreed that communication, or lack thereof, was a major issue on the defensive end. The proper switches weren’t made. Rotations were off. Everything, or everyone, was a step slow.
“It’s one of our best games of the year, for sure,” Tucker said after Game 3. “We were locked in to another level today. Defensively, it was unbelievable to see. Everybody was rotating. Everybody was talking. Our communication, it was probably our best communication game of the year. We didn’t mess up our switches today. We were up on our switches. We got under the big, the bigs were up getting into the guards and making them drive.”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder, whose team hosts Game 4 on Sunday, will surely be helping Mitchell try to fix what the Rockets broke.
“They shaded Donovan to his left hand, and he has to adjust to that, and I think he can,” Snyder said. “They are a good defensive team. They’ve been that all year. They raised their level, is what happened. We weren’t able to get some of the things that we got. I think we kind of maybe thought it might be easier than it was.”