Mitchell scores 27 in return, leads Jazz past Nets 125-102
SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell made his return — and the Utah Jazz suddenly looked like the NBA’s best offense again.
Mitchell scored 27 points after missing eight games because of a concussion, Bojan Bogdanovic added 19 points and 11 rebounds and the Jazz cruised past the short-handed Brooklyn Nets 125-102 on Friday night.
“There’s so much focus other teams have on him that it frees up other guys offensively — he’s Donovan Mitchell and makes life a lot easier for everybody,” said Alex Jensen, who was Utah’s acting coach with Quin Snyder in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
On Utah’s first possession, Mitchell dished a no-look assist to Royce O’Neale for a three-point play. That sparked a 10-0 run to start the game, and the Jazz completed a wireto-wire victory for the third time this season and sent the Nets to a season-high seventh straight loss.
Mitchell shot 8 for 10 from the floor and had six 3-pointers and six assists in 22 minutes of energized play.
The Jazz were 2-6 without Mitchell.
“He was unbelievable,” Udoka Azubuike said. “It looked like a video game. There was one time I had to catch myself in the moment because I was just watching him. Every shot was going in. Don is a star.”
Mitchell spoke to the media earlier in the day about his frustration at the recurring concussion symptoms since he got hit
in the head on Jan. 17, so just being there for tipoff was a thrill.
“I was just happy to be playing basketball,” Mitchell said. “I was joking before the game that I didn’t care if the ball went in. I was just happy to be out there running around, guarding, thinking the game and playing with my teammates.”
Brooklyn rookie Cam Thomas posted a career-high 30 points just four games after setting his previous best of 25 last week. Kyrie Irving added 15 points on 20 shots.
“They made a lot of 3s. They couldn’t miss at first,” Thomas said. “It’s very demoralizing when you’ve got to take the ball out of the hoop every time.”
The Nets — who were without James Harden (hamstring), Kevin Durant (knee), LaMarcus Aldridge (ankle) and Joe Harris (ankle) — never trailed by fewer than 21 points the entire second half.
“We’re going through a tough stretch,” Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. “We’re undermanned and we’re asking guys to do more. We played against an excellent offensive team. … I just keep telling the guys that it’s about staying together through this.”