4) Donovan Mitchell’s first 40-point game
As early as summer league, Donovan Mitchell exhibited signs that he could be a star in the making. Even as he struggled to knock down shots during the opening weeks of the season, there was a growing sense that the Jazz had really stumbled onto something with the 6-foot-3 guard.
On December 1, it became an undeniable fact.
That’s the night when he dropped his first career 40-point game on Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans in what was only his 23rd game as a professional. Mitchell scored 41 points in total — the highest single-game mark by a rookie in seven years — hitting 13-of-25 shots and six 3-pointers in the game.
As a result, he led the Jazz to a 114-108 comeback victory over one of the conference’s better squads. And he did so by coming through in the clutch, scoring 17 of his 41 during the fourth quarter.
Without question, it was Mitchell’s official coming out party.
Next: No. 3