Utah Jazz duds: Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson
Utah Jazz fans may immediately notice that we’ve grouped Mitchell and Clarkson for the dud section of this article. No, this isn’t some misguided attempt to reduce our digital footprint. We’re grouping the two guards together because they suffered the same problem last night: shooting efficiency.
Mitchell and Clarkson were the two leaders in Utah Jazz field goal attempts last night, and the results weren’t pretty. Combined, the two talented guards shot 15/44 from the field. That’s roughly 34% from the field. That is, to put it lightly, suboptimal.
Mitchell was arguably the biggest culprit, shooting 9/25 from the field. On the flip side. Mitchell is the fulcrum of this Utah Jazz offense. It’s expected that he’ll have inefficient performances as a high-volume scorer.
From that lens, Clarkson’s 6/19 performance from the field may qualify as a bigger blemish on the Jazz’s box score. On the other hand, as the team’s sixth man, he’s effectively the Donovan Mitchell of the second unit. Put differently: both players have roles that necessitate inefficiency at times.
Utah Jazz fans just should not expect many victories for their squad on nights that both suffer so dramatically from it.
The Utah Jazz walked away with a victory against the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Much of that fact can be attributed to the sensational play of Rudy Gobert. The Jazz’s lead guards will have to hit shots more consistently for the team to see that outcome as frequently as they’d like throughout the 2021-22 season.