Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell wins third consecutive Rookie of the Month

Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell has done it once again as he was awarded his third straight Rookie of the Month Award for his performances in February.

Without question, the most thrilling aspect of the 2017-18 Utah Jazz season has been the constant rise of rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell. The 13th overall pick in the 2017 draft only continues to exceed expectations as the season goes on as he leads his team, as well as all rookies, in scoring while battling to will the Jazz to the playoffs.

And while several fans and foes alike have figured that eventually Mitchell would slow down this season as the dreaded ‘rookie wall’ sets in, such just hasn’t been the case. If anything, he’s been a model of consistency, something he proved once again in the month of February.

After averaging 22.2 points in the month of January, Mitchell followed it up with 21.4 points in February, and while his field goal percentage was down from 45 percent to 41.3 percent between the two months, his three-point percentage was up all the way to a solid 38.2 percent in 10 games in the month of February, his best clip during any month so far this season. He also had his best plus/minus of any month of +8.1.

Furthermore, he had his best assist and rebound averages for any month at 3.8 and 4.2, respectively, while putting up his best net rating of 11.5 despite posting his highest usage this season of 29.6 percent. In short, even with an increasing role, rather than buckle under pressure, Donovan continued to thrive as he helped lead his team to an 8-2 record during the month of February (excluding the game he missed against the San Antonio Spurs on February 3).

And Mitchell’s continued incredible play earned him yet another Rookie of the Month Award for February, bringing his total to three consecutive such awards as he took home that very prize in both December and January as well. The fact that he’s now won it three months straight is both a testament to how well he’s played and to how tight the Rookie of the Year race truly figures to be down the season’s stretch.

His Rookie of the Month counterpart in the East was of course none other than the guy he’s battling for the prestigious end-of-year award – Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers. This was Simmons’ second consecutive time winning the award and his third overall. Both he and Mitchell have exceptional cases for earning the Rookie of the Year nod and it’s going to be exhilarating to see if either one of them separates himself in the final month and a half of the year.

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Mitchell will get a chance to reassert his case on Friday night as the Utah Jazz host the Minnesota Timberwolves in an absolutely crucial contest between two teams battling in the Western Conference. If the Jazz are to ultimately make the playoffs, they’ll need to earn some big victories, such as tomorrow’s would be, as well as likely have yet another Rookie of the Month-esque performance from Mitchell all throughout March.

They’re facing an uphill battle right now, so it will be vital for their incredible rookie to continue to shine.