On the wrong end of a back-to-back, Donovan Mitchell led the Utah Jazz to a hard-fought win over the Chicago Bulls.
Before they squared off with the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, you had to go all the way back to October 28 to find the last time the Utah Jazz were multiple games over .500. The Jazz were 4-2 then, but followed up a seemingly strong start by losing four straight and nine of 13. Ugh.
Two and a half months later, despite being banged-up and on the wrong end of a back-to-back, the Jazz band are two games up once again after breaking the Bulls 110-102 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. The contest featured 16 lead changes and 11 ties.
Once again, it was Donovan Mitchell that guided the ship into harbor.
Playing at the point guard once again while Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum and Raul Neto all lick the wounds of their most recent injuries, Mitchell continued his trend of playing electrifying basketball and igniting his team on the offensive end.
The former No. 13 overall pick dropped 34 points in the contest — it was his third straight 33-plus point performance and fifth consecutive game scoring 26 or more. He also added six assists, six boards and two blocks on the night for good measure.
His scoring uptick and improved shooting efficiency have been huge, but the way he’s directed the Jazz offense in lieu of Rubio and company running point has been the real difference maker in recent wins. Since taking over as the starting PG, he’s averaging 7.3 dimes per game and the Jazz are scoring 111.3 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor.
Rudy Gobert was his usual, defensively dominant self, but was also rocking in his own right as a distributor, logging a career-high eight assists. Meanwhile, with his four triples, Kyle Korver moved past Jason Terry into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers made list with career 2284 triples.
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I’m talking a lot of offensive numbers here, but Utah’s best stats from Saturday came on the other end of the floor. During the decisive fourth quarter, the Jazz held the Bulls to 27 percent shooting and 0-of-7 from behind the arc. Mitchell’s big night aside, it was that clamp-down that won the day for the home team.
With the win, the Jazz improved to 23-21 on the year. They have now won five of their last six games and have a good shot to make it six of seven against the Detroit Pistons on Monday. Tip-off is at 7 PM.