Utah Jazz are in big trouble if Donovan Mitchell misses significant time

The Utah Jazz were absolutely obliterated in Donovan Mitchell’s first missed game of the season, meaning the team could be in real trouble if he doesn’t return soon.

Coming into the 2017-18 NBA season, the question surrounding the Utah Jazz that loomed the largest was, how is the team going to produce any offense? After losing its two leading scorers in Gordon Hayward and George Hill, finding enough points to compete was a definite concern.

Some thought that Rodney Hood could finally emerge as Utah’s go-to guy this season with an expanded role. Others had hopes that Derrick Favors would revert to his 2015-16 ways and perhaps even improve to become Utah’s stud scorer in the post. Still others put faith in the likes of Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles and/or Ricky Rubio.

But as fate would have it, the true motor that has made Utah’s offense run has been none other than rookie Donovan Mitchell. Make no mistake about it, the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has been a godsend for the Jazz that not only finds himself pacing all rookies in scoring, but is also leading the Utah Jazz in points per game with play so far this season that has him right in the thick of Rookie of the Year contention.

Despite a bit of a slow start to begin the season, Mitchell has been absolutely electric since. In the month of November, he put up 18.1 points on 41.3 percent shooting from the field and 37.5 percent shooting from deep. Then, despite a much more challenging schedule against tougher teams and even with opponents’ changing their scouting report to slow Donovan Mitchell who has easily become Utah’s top scoring threat, Mitchell has played even better in the month of December.

He’s averaging 23.6 points on incredible shooting percentages of 49.1 from the field and 38.7 from deep. That brings his overall season averages to 17.7 points, 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 36.6 percent shooting from deep in 30.1 minutes per game. Those are all spectacular numbers for a rookie, particularly one who is a starter on a team that still finds itself within striking distance of the playoff mix.

Unfortunately, Utah’s savior has suddenly joined the ranks of the wounded among the Jazz. The fated injury bug just will not leave this team alone and it has now taken Utah’s newest star out of commission. Donovan Mitchell injured his toe in the recent contest against Cleveland and it held him to just 21 minutes against Houston (his lowest figure since October) and kept him out of last night’s contest against Oklahoma City entirely as it was announced that he had a right great toe contusion.

In both games, it was clear that Mitchell’s presence was dramatically missed. In Houston, the Jazz led for a significant amount of the game, but all of a sudden the Rockets flipped a switch in the fourth quarter where they overwhelmed the Jazz by a score of 41-15 to turn a game that looked like Utah might win into a 21-point blowout loss.

Due to injury-related struggles, Mitchell played just two minutes in that fateful final period. That was probably largely the reason for Utah’s woeful quarter as Donovan has been not only their most clutch player, but one of the most clutch in the league. The fourth quarter has been his specialty as he’s averaging six points per game in the fourth while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from deep.

Prior to his poor showing in Houston, Mitchell had averaged nearly 11 points in the fourth quarter of each of the previous three games which included games against the East-leading Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Then in last night’s contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Jazz showed just how much trouble they’re in with Donovan Mitchell sitting out for an entire game. The Thunder absolutely punished the Jazz out of the gates, taking a 25-9 lead into the second quarter. Sure, the Jazz were exhausted after playing their sixth straight game on the road, and it showed, but there’s still no excuse for that kind of a performance.

Without Donovan around to steady the Jazz and pace them on offense, this team looked lost, out of sync and easy to guard as they let a dismally slow start affect them all game long before falling by an embarrassing score of 107-79.

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/943682481445781505

Therefore, if Donovan Mitchell is going to end up missing any sort of extended time, it could spell doom for the Jazz. Even though they’ve finally completed their grueling six-game road trip, they still have a ridiculously tough rest of December which tips off tonight on the back end of a back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs.

From there, they’ll battle a slew of playoff teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers to close out the month. That’s a rough stretch to go through without your leading scorer and the guy who’s become the most capable of creating a shot and generating any sort of offense. If the blowout loss to OKC is any indication, then the Jazz may very well be hard-pressed to find another win in December unless Mitchell returns to action.

The hopeful news is that the day before the Oklahoma City game, Mitchell was listed on the injury report as “questionable” which would seem to indicate that since there was a chance that he could play, the injury may not be all that drastic. He did, in fact, start the game after he was hurt, even though he went on to log limited minutes.

However, the phrase “toe contusion” is definitely a delicate one among Jazz fans who likely still have PTSD from last season when an eerily similar toe ailment kept former starting point guard George Hill sidelined for much of the year. As bad as the Jazz need Donovan Mitchell back, it would also be unwise to rush his recovery and have him bouncing in and out of the lineup the way Hill did a season ago.

But, again, if he needs that extra time to recover, it could be a death knell for the Jazz. Utah has already had a ridiculous share of injuries this year that currently includes Rudy Gobert sitting out for likely a month and Dante Exum potentially missing the season, so adding Mitchell to that mix will be absolutely devastating.

Next: Utah Jazz tease new “City” jerseys with awesome video

Be sure to stay tuned to TheJNotes.com for further updates on Donovan’s health. In the meantime, we’ll all be throwing up thoughts and prayers to him for a speedy recovery.

The fate of the Utah Jazz’s season could very well depend on it.