Donovan Mitchell was made for the Playoffs

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ncSYQ_0aRR5rFW00

**Be warned this is a long and very in-depth read, hope you have your reading glasses ready**

A few weeks ago we saw the Utah Jazz who is the number one team in the league, narrowly lose their first-round game 1 matchup against the underdog Memphis Grizzlies by just three points with the end score of 109-112. The main takeaway from that game besides the Grizzlies close win was that the Jazz did not have their young star guard and lead scorer Donovan Mitchell in the game.

Due to a mildly high ankle sprain, Mitchell was held out of the last 16 games of the regular season and the training staff did not feel comfortable in letting him play that first game. It was widely noted from multiple outlets that Mitchell was very upset about the ruling of him sitting out and made it very known. He felt he was ready to go and definitely proved that in game 2.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3AnmoX_0aRR5rFW00

Game 2

Coming into the game you could tell right away Donovan was set to prove anyone wrong that said he wasn't ready to play. Making his first 3-pointer less than two minutes into the game and then gets fouled on another made 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. The Spida was officially back!

Fast forward to the end of the game and Mitchell ended with 25 points, 2 rebounds, 0 assists, and 1 steal. He shot at a 42% field-goal percentage making 8 of his 19 shots which included 5 of the 10 being 3-pointers all while making all 4 of his free throws and the Jazz outplayed the Grizzlies in every way to win the high-scoring affair with an end score of 141 to 129. If there was any rust on Mitchell then it was certainly shaken off in this game

Game 3

With the game heading to Memphis for game 3, you would think the nerves might set in for the young Spida right? Wrong!

Although he did not have a great 3-point shooting night or a great total field-goal percentage as he did in game 2 shooting a mere 39% from the field, He made up for it with a combination of his court vision dishing out 5 assists getting his team going while getting to the free-throw line for 11 shots of which he made 9. Mitchell ended still ended with 29 points and the Jazz outscored the Grizzlies 34 to 22 in the first quarter and was only outscored by a total of 2 points for the remaining three quarters and ended the game with a win and end score of 121-111.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1dbbkA_0aRR5rFW00

Game 4

This game was eerily similar to game 3. Mitchell did not have the greatest shooting outing and again shot under 40%, this time shooting an only 36.4% field-goal percentage. But once again made up for it with the combination of his court vision to get his teammates involved only this time he ended the game with 8 assists while getting to the line for 12 of 13 made free throws. He still ended the game with 30 points to his name. Mitchell also showed his defensive prowess by getting 2 steals and even a block just to stuff the stat sheet a bit along with 2 rebounds as well. The game ended with an almost similar score of 120-113.

Game 5

Coming into this game the Utah Jazz and Donovan Mitchell had every intention to end this series and from beginning to end beside the fourth quarter where the Jazz got outscored by 14 after what it seemed like the Jazz taking their foot off the gas. That late run by the Grizzlies was too little too late as they got outscored by 20 in the first quarter which set up the landslide victory for Utah where we saw Donovan shake off his shooting percentage woes and completely went off for another 30 points shooting an amazing 68.8% from the field on 11 of 16 shots which included 5 of 8 made 3-pointers. And let's not forget to add 10 assists to give him a double-double along with 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Utah gets the impressive-looking win with an end score of 126-110 ending the series 4-1.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0iIoRN_0aRR5rFW00

Bring on the Clippers!

Round 2 of the western conference playoffs start and the matchup of the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers are set.

Game 1 starts and early on we saw the red hot Utah Jazz sizzle down and get outscored by the Clippers 25 to 18 in the first quarter and 35 to 29 in the second quarter and going into halftime it seemed like the Clippers may have figured out the recipe to stop the Jazz from cooking. Mitchell himself had 13 points in the first half.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ZYgGH_0aRR5rFW00

Newly named part owner of the Utah Jazz and NBA Legend Dwyane Wade seen giving Donovan Mitchell sideline adviceNBA - Getty Images

And then it happened

Coming into the second half the Jazz were down 47 to 60. Then something inside Donovan Mitchell completely snapped and he did just about everything he wanted to do to the Clippers at will between 3-pointer after 3-pointer and crafty layups. He scored 10 points just himself in just only a little over the first two minutes of the third quarter and ended that quarter with 16 points with the Clippers scoring a TOTAL of 19 points as a team! Donovan almost single-handedly outscored the Clippers team as a whole in a full quarter. That is insane!

Fourth-quarter starts and Donovan is still an engulfed fireball and ended up scoring TWENTY of the Utah Jazz's 33 fourth-quarter points to lead the come from behind victory for his team ending with a huge 45 point outing shooting just over 50% from the field and 40% from the arc. Utah ended up winning by just three points with a score of 112-109.

Game 2

Coming off of that huge game 1 scoring output many thought there was no way Donovan Mitchell could do anything similar, And once again he proved them wrong. Similar to game 1, Donovan came out and scored his first 8 points in the first two minutes of the game and ended with 14 total points in that first quarter.

Second-quarter, Donovan played only little less than half of the quarter yet he still ended up scoring 13 more points in just that quarter and went into halftime with 27 points.

In the second half of the game and more so in the third quarter we saw Mitchell cool down and only scored 3 points off of one made 3-pointer. Luckily the rest of the team was able to keep the quarter close and only got outscored by 6 in the third quarter.

With the Clippers making their way back, Donovan came into the fourth quarter making his first shot but proceeded to miss two shots back to back, but like any great player who can shoot he did exactly what he needed to do, which was keep shooting. After the two misses in a row, he made his next shot just to cause a few turnovers and even get blocked on another.

But as I said, Great players know how to be great, and with 43 seconds left in the game and the Clippers nearing the comeback, Mitchell hits a floater bank shot that put the Jazz up 115-108 then hit 1 of his 2 free throws moments after what appeared to be him aggravating the sprained ankle that originally kept him out before the playoffs to ultimately help the Jazz get the win with the end score of 117-111. Mitchell ended with 37 points while only scoring 2 of those points at the free-throw line!

Clippers are now once again 0-2 in to start both of their series match ups.

The Clippers will come into game 3 ready to do what they did to the Mavericks only this time on their home court, And Donovan Mitchell and the rest of the Utah Jazz will be waiting.

First Luka Doncic showed it before ultimately getting eliminated by the Clippers that he was made for this.

Now its Donovan "Spida" Mitchell's turn to show it

And I truly believe Donovan Mitchell was made for the playoffs!

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3yUe5n_0aRR5rFW00

Utah Jazz star guard Donovan MitchellNBA - Getty Images

Hope you guys enjoyed the read

-Sani