MITCHELL AND ALL THAT JAZZ TOO MUCH FOR THUNDER; RAPTORS ADVANCE
Donovan Mitchell, a runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year honors, had absolutely no idea he was going to have a huge third quarter for the Utah Jazz against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After all, the team came into Game 6 facing questions if they could close out an Oklahoma squad that turned to Russell Westbrook to overhaul a 25point third-quarter deficit to stay alive just days earlier.
But Mitchell responded with a huge third quarter, matching Westbrook almost point-forpoint there and finishing with 38 points in Game 6 as the Utah Jazz closed out the Western Conference first-round series with a 96-91 victory Friday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City.
“I was surprised by the third quarter because to say that I expected all this, I’d be lying to you,” Mitchell told ESPN. “But this feels incredible, man.”
The win came despite starting playmaker Ricky Rubio playing just over seven minutes after injuring his hamstring in the first quarter. And even with Rubio out, the Thunder did not have an answer for Mitchell and all that Jazz.
Derrick Favors registered 13 points and eight rebounds as the Jazz won the series four games to two. Rudy Gobert contributed 12 points and 13 rebounds, Joe Ingles also scored 12 points and Alec Burks added 11.
“We worked hard, we stuck with it,” Mitchell said during a postgame television interview on ESPN. “After Game 5, there was some question if we could handle it but the character of this team is just incredible. We all did what we were supposed to do, and we all came up big.”
The fifth-seeded Jazz will face the top-seeded Houston Rockets in the second round, with the series starting Sunday.
Russell Westbrook made seven 3-pointers while recording 46 points and 10 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Thunder. It was Westbrook’s seventh career postseason 40-point outing.
Steven Adams had 19 points and 16 rebounds for Oklahoma City while both Carmelo Anthony (seven points on 3-of-7 shooting) and Paul George (five on 2-of-16 shooting) had subpar outings.
Mitchell has scored 171 points, third most through six games by a rookie in NBA history. Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, had 216 in 1970 and Wilt Chamberlain scored 199 in 1960.
Kyle Lowry scored 24 points, and Toronto got a big lift from their bench in a clinching 102-92 win over Washington Wizards in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series at Capital One Arena in Washington.
The Raptors, the top seed in the Eastern Conference, outscored the Wizards 29-14 in the fourth quarter. Toronto will face the winner of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, which went to a Game 7.
Indiana guard Victor Oladipo paced a potent Indiana attack with team highs of 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 121-87 rout of Cleveland in Indianapolis to even the first-round series at three games apiece.