Utah Jazz vs Cleveland Cavaliers: ‘Young King’ spoils LeBron’s birthday

Donovan Mitchell led the Utah Jazz in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers with 29 points, six assists and three steals.

In what many fans had written off as a probable loss (the FiveThirtyEight math said otherwise with a 55 percent chance of Utah Jazz victory), the Donovan Mitchell and his crew pulled off an incredible comeback win over the reigning Eastern Conference Champions and spoiled Lebron James’ 33rd birthday.

LeBron has now lost seven straight games in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz found themselves in a hole early in the first quarter and down double digits. They fought back for much of the second quarter and cut it to five at halftime.

Utah really stole the momentum in the third quarter, going on a 23-6 run.

Ricky Rubio was the leader and spark for the Jazz. He brought toughness, energy and grit. The  Gritty Ricky in this game was the Rubio we all imagined when the team acquired him last summer. He had 16 points, 10 rebounds eight assists, a steal and only two turnovers(!).

In the fourth quarter, the Cavs rallied, as you would expect from the East’s best team (not by current record, but still the best) with the best player in the world.

Then Donovan Mitchell happened. The kid is a star — not a future star, not a young talent. He’s a legitimate star right now. This play by Mitchell is really what sealed the game for Utah —

He went toe to toe with LeBron and Dwyane Wade and came out on top. Also notable was Thabo Sefalosha’s defense on LeBron throughout the game. I wouldn’t say he shut him down (impossible) but he did pester him all night and forced him into difficult positions, especially late in the game.

Donovan, the star

Immediately after the teams’ previous game in Cleveland (a narrow victory for the Cavs), LeBron notably met with Donovan Mitchell. No such thing happened after the birthday loss.

He did have this to say to the media.

”He’s a player,” James said. ”The kid has a lot of game and they’ve been riding that wave all season since they realized what they actually got. He’s not afraid of the moment. They put him in situations where he can succeed and he tries to take advantage of it.”

Donovan opened December with a 41-point performance in a comeback win. He had only 29 points in this comeback game, but this was arguably an even better performance. Aside from his game-winning clutch-time performance, he was everywhere throughout the game with three steals, including this one —

https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/947295964624142337

He also had six assists, but would have had plenty more if Joe Ingles and Thabo didn’t have a penchant for sometimes missing the widest of wide-open 3-point shots and lay-ups.

All in all, Donovan Mitchell truly did take advantage of the moment. He’s not afraid. He’s not a star in the making. He’s a star now and after a brutal December is finally over, the Jazz are poised to make a postseason push.

The Jazz will be back in action on January 3 against the New Orleans Pelicans.