3 studs and 1 dud from blowout Utah Jazz win vs Warriors

Utah Jazz stud: Donovan Mitchell

Donovan Mitchell did not have the kind of stat line the Utah Jazz fans expect from him. Instead, he demonstrated that he has more layers in his game than casual observers know.

The young star only finished with 14 points last night. He was uncharacteristically passive on offense, deferring to teammates in situations where he’d normally attack. He shot 5/14 from the field and a solid 4/10 from deep.

He may not have scored very much, but he did absolutely everything else. Mitchell finished with 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Two more dimes, and Mitchell would have secured the first Jazz triple-double since Carlos Boozer in 2014.

It’s fairly surprising that no Jazzman has finished with a triple-double in that time. After all, we live in an age where players average triple doubles. At the risk of passive aggressively criticizing another player, there’s an explanation: the Jazz don’t roster stat padders.

Nobody could say that Mitchell was stat padding last night. He rebounded with the obvious intent to help the team. He set up teammates in an effort to get them involved. He played with infectious hustle and energy, and managed to be a huge part of this win in spite of his modest scoring finish.

Mitchell should not and will not routinely play this way. The Utah Jazz lean on his scoring prowess, and that doesn’t figure to change any time soon. When his shot isn’t going, it’s encouraging that he has other skills to lean on.