Utah Jazz vs Portland Trail Blazers key matchup: Dame and Donovan

Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz will look to extend their win streak to 12 against a division rival, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, in a game that may carry some extra meaning as each looks to separate themselves in the hotly contested playoff race.

Although the ‘W11’ in the streak column of the NBA standings indicates how impressive the Utah Jazz have been over this stretch, the All-Star break may have come at exactly the right time. The energy had begun to die down in their last two games (each narrow victories against lackluster opponents), but nonetheless, unexpected heroes such as Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale pushed the Jazz over the line.

As Utah stumbled somewhat to the All-Star break, they still completed the once inconceivable task of heading in with an 11-game winning streak. As players headed off in every which way, I can assure you they all enjoyed the All-Star festivities, especially watching Donovan Mitchell set the NBA world alight with an electrifying and triumphant dunk contest performance.

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As Mitchell took to the bright stage, he caught the eye of NBA superstars DeMar DeRozan and yes, Damian Lillard, who had nothing but nice things to say about the Jazz rookie. The Blazers guard made it clear that although Ben Simmons is having a tremendous rookie campaign in Philadelphia, Mitchell is more deserving of Rookie of the Year honors.

Respect, @Dame_Lillard 🕷⌚️ https://t.co/ZUhCd3oVao
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 17, 2018

Lillard, who just made his second NBA All-Star appearance, has often been mentioned as the type of player Mitchell could become in the future. And since the word started to spread on social media, the general consensus is that Lillard may not be Mitchell’s ceiling, and I happen to agree.

Although the two have some striking similarities, such as the ease of which they can get up a contested shot, and their fearless attitudes to taking over down the stretch of games, Mitchell is clearly the better of the two athletically and has already shown far more potential as a lockdown defender.

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It’s really quite insane to be comparing the 13th pick of the draft just eight months ago to a perennial All-Star, but that’s the kind of recognition this rookie deserves for his outstanding play. The similarities in their game show up on the stat sheet as well.

During Lillard’s rookie season (in which he won the Rookie of the Year award), he averaged 19 points, 6.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 0.2 blocks and three turnovers on 43 percent from the field, 37 percent from three and 84 percent from the free throw line.

To this point in Donovan’s rookie campaign, he’s averaged 19.6 points, 3.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 0.4 blocks and 2.6 turnovers on 44 percent from the field, 35 percent from three and 84 percent from the free throw line.

The key difference between the two is in the minutes department, where Dame played an astounding 38.6 minutes per game. Mitchell, on the other hand, is sitting at 32.1, making the rest of his numbers all the more impressive. He is also just one point per game shy of Gordon Hayward’s scoring average per 36 minutes last season.

On the subject of the game at hand, both the Jazz and the Trail Blazers desperately need this win. The Jazz currently hold a 2-0 advantage in the season series and a series win could come in handy as the playoff picture starts taking shape.

FiveThirtyEight are predicting that the Jazz will begin the postseason with the sixth seed, finishing one game ahead of the Trail Blazers, which means that the remaining two games between these teams carry some extra weight.

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Hopefully Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz can get the job done and give themselves an edge over the Portland Trail Blazers for when the playoffs com around.

Statistics courtesy of Basketball Reference.