Of all the people within the Utah Jazz huddle, it is definitely their franchise star Donovan Mitchell who is frustrated the most after what happened on Wednesday evening.
Comfortably sitting with a 25-point edge in the second half, the Jazz were blindsided by another notorious culture of comeback by the feisty Los Angeles Clippers. Behind the inspiring leadership of Paul George, who played his first game after missing +40 games due to UCL recovery, the Clips went on a turbo boost in the 4th period to snatch the victory over the jaws of defeat, 121-115.
Mitchell, who dropped 33 markers on 12-of-21 shooting and six assists in the losing effort, didn’t hide being puzzled about the crumbling that happened in his basketball club down the stretch — even relating it to what happened in last season’s collapse against the same team in the same arena.
The 25-year-old All-star meanwhile took the whole responsibility on the blunder he committed with 10 seconds left in the match, wherein he called a timeout which pushed Los Angeles’ deficit to climb within six via technical free throws.
“The timeout, I didn’t know,” Mitchell said, via team insider Eric Walden. “That’s on me. As a leader, I’ve got to know. I was looking at the wrong fucking team [on the scoreboard].”
The Jazz fell horribly in another disappointing fashion, going home to Salt Lake City with a 1-5 record on the road trip. Following the meltdown, they are now tied with the Denver Nuggets in the 45-31 win-loss card and on the brink of dropping to the sixth seed of the competitive Western Conference.
With six games remaining on the regular season and all eyes are watching them as the postseason is looming, the curious case of the Jazz’ contention remains enticing in the NBA’s circle of conversation. Their future will be heavily determined on what is about to unfold for them in the next few months to come.
