Utah Jazz face daunting odds with Donovan Mitchell out vs. Memphis

Donovan Mitchell is out for Friday night’s contest, which is extremely bad news for a Utah Jazz offense that recently struggled mightily against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Utah Jazz faced the Memphis Grizzlies in the third contest of the 2018-19 season and, to put it nicely, it was not pretty. Utah couldn’t buy a bucket and ultimately fell in disheartening fashion by a score of 92-84.

The Jazz defense played plenty well to win the game, but unfortunately, mustering just 84 points on horrible shooting splits of 35.4 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep just wasn’t going to get it done. To Memphis’ credit, they have a staunch defense and they forced the Jazz right into their hands by dictating the pace and tempo of the game.

As bad as Utah’s offense was in that contest, they’re at risk of struggling even more to find points in their upcoming bout as it was announced on Thursday evening that Donovan Mitchell will not suit up for Friday’s game due to a hamstring injury. Mitchell left the contest against the Minnesota Timberwolves early, and was later seen with large ice packs around his right hamstring which was obviously bothering him.

Utah’s offense went stagnant in the fourth without Mitchell, and his absence very well could have been the difference in what went on to be a disappointing loss.

Fortunately, several sources, including The Athletic’s Tony Jones as seen below, reported that his MRI came back negative. While it’s great to hear that it it likely isn’t a serious injury, missing Donovan for any amount of time is still discouraging.

Sure, he had his worst game of the year against Memphis in the previous contest, mustering just 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting, but as Utah’s leading score and the team’s most prolific and versatile threat, not having him in action is a huge detriment and instantly makes Utah that much easier to cover. As if the Grizzlies didn’t already have an easy enough time defending them last time…

With Donovan Mitchell out on Friday evening, the entire team will have to step up as a result, particularly starting point guard Ricky Rubio who is off to yet another atrocious start so far this season. We could very well see more playing time for Grayson Allen, who’s played some solid minutes in his young career, and I expect we’ll see Dante Exum get more run, perhaps even alongside the struggling Rubio. Royce O’Neale, who hasn’t overwhelmed so far this year, will also need to make an impact.

Ideally, those guys as well as Utah’s other starters, will step up big and cover for Donovan, allowing Utah to get a much-needed win and a little revenge over a Memphis team that doesn’t figure to be as formidable as the Jazz this season. However, I have to say, without Mitchell, I’m pretty worried about Utah’s chances.

Just a day ago, I wrote that I expected the Jazz to bounce back and win this contest. While the Jazz rely on the mantra of ‘the strength of the team is the team’ and have plenty of capable guys that could step up, Mitchell is simply so important, and I don’t know if they can defeat a formidable and stingy Grizzlies team without him.

Donovan missed just two regular season games last season in which his Jazz team went 1-1. The loss was a disheartening blowout defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder, whereas the win was an impressive one over the San Antonio Spurs that featured Ricky Rubio going off for a mind-blowing 34 points.

The Jazz will likely need such an explosion out of him again Friday evening to have any chance of toppling the Grizzlies. Unfortunately, based on how he’s played thus far on the season, it seems the odds of that happening are quite low.

We’ll see who, if anyone, is able to step up for the Jazz and make up for Donovan’s absence in short order, as the game tips off at 7:00 PM MT on Friday night within the friendly confines of Vivint Smart Home Arena.