Utah Jazz: 2 duds and 1 stud from tough loss to Chicago Bulls

Utah Jazz dud: Donovan Mitchell

By now, it’s so official that it might as well have been notarized by a legal authority: Donovan Mitchell is slumping. The Utah Jazz star’s basic counting stats from this loss to the Bulls were appropriate to his star status, as he finished with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

If efficiency is something you value, however, you may wish to avert your eyes before reading the next paragraph.

Mitchell finished the game shooting 9/27 from the field, including an unsightly 2/11 from three-point range. It may have been the Jazz’s complete lack of a true point guard outside of rookie Jared Butler that led to Mitchell’s inefficiency. He was saddled with a tremendous workload on Saturday, unable to focus solely on providing his usual scoring punch. The Jazz lacked a distributor, and Mitchell often looked like he was trying to be in two places at once against the Bulls.

Which is, of course, metaphysically impossible. However, Conley’s absence wasn’t the only reason for Mitchell’s struggle on Saturday evening. On the season, he’s shooting 37.6% from the field, and 28.6% from deep.

Furthermore, Mitchell is a talented enough offensive player to withstand Conley’s absence. He may have been too aggressive in his efforts to generate offense on Saturday, perhaps overcompensating for a suddenly fleeting confidence in his three-point shot.

Again, the panic button should be placed firmly outside of any Utah Jazz fan’s reach. Mitchell is overwhelmingly likely to return to form as the season progresses. As it stands, the team simply isn’t able to overcome his shooting struggles in Mike Conley’s absence.