Utah’s Donovan Mitchell: “I’m Not Trying To Watch the Playoffs From the Couch”

The start of the fourth quarter in the last night’s showdown between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets set off the alarm in Donovan Mitchell’s head.

His Jazzers were close to being swept by the guests from Texas, and that is something the sophomore didn’t want to experience.

Utah entered the final period with a 3-point deficit, 79-76, and with the momentum on Houston’s side, as the guests came back from behind and took over the wheel in the third sequence.

Something had to happen, and it needed to be fast.

And it did.

Mitchell exploded in the opening minutes, igniting his team’s 15-1 run, with 13 points of his own during those opening three minutes. He was in the zone.

The fear of elimination forced him to produce his best episode of the entire series. At the end of the night, Spider had 31 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. That fear was the biggest motive for him to find a way to improve his game and hurt the Rockets.

“I’m not trying to go home,” Mitchell told. “I’m not trying to watch the rest of these games from the couch.”

He emerged as Jazzers’ hero in this one, despite the awful start of the match. He made only three of his first 12 field goal attempts, and for many, it looked like another bad night of Utah’s leader is on the way.

After being up 30-16 in the first, and keeping a safe distance between them and the Rockets in the second quarter, the home team slowed down in the third sequence.

Harden and Chris Paul started to pound, Utah’s defense softened a little bit, and the guests’ morale boosted also.

It was a desperate situation for the hosts, and Mitchell realized that he needs to play even riskier and take his chances, because the Jazz had nothing to lose anymore.

A couple of questionable call by the refs forced him to change his mindset and to neglect the possibility of getting the foul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1yiwT0sgM0&t=1s

“I realized that I had to continue to be aggressive,” Mitchell explained what was on his mind before the start of the fourth quarter. “I thought they were fouls, and they weren’t, and I’ve got to be able to fight through contact.”

He started Utah’s burst which decided the game, Ricky Rubio added two points, after him, and after that, he alone dropped 11 consecutive points on the dazzled Rockets.

He was pleased with the way his teammates supported him while missing the shots, and on the other hand, emphasized their role in those moments when Utah came back.

“My teammates obviously just having my back is huge, continuing to fight, fight, fight and just encouraging me to take the same shots.”

Guests couldn’t realize what is happening to them, and they scored only 12 points in the final 12 minutes, having one of the worst quarters in the last few years. Believe it or not, Houston missed all of their 13 three-point attempts during that stretch.

The shift of momentum was fantastic, with one side taking over the game in just three minutes, and extending the series for one more clash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUrY1Rl60QQ&t=4s

Although the series moves to Houston now, where the environment is totally the opposite, and where they won’t have a crowd behind them, Mitchell and his team are not giving up. They know how to behave in situations like this one.

“We’ve had our backs against the wall plenty of times the past two years we’ve been together as a team,” Mitchell said. “This is familiar ground with us.”

Utah already won in Houston once this year, but that was at the beginning of the campaign when Rockets had many problems regarding their chemistry and the overall situation in the locker room, Carmelo Anthony thing, injuries, slow start, all that affected on them and the Jazzers won 100-89. The second game there during the regular part of the season ended with Rockets’ narrow win, 102-97. Game 3 gives them the right to hope for a miracle, as they competed well but didn’t have the luck in the end, and lost 104-101.

Mitchell missed the shot to tie that contest. Maybe it is time for payback.