The Utah Jazz are all too familiar with Michael Jordan's infamous Flu Game in Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals. While the stakes weren't as high in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Jazz got a Flu Game of their own on Tuesday night.
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell wasn't feeling well during Game 1, with head coach Quin Snyder revealing after the 112-109 victory that he was “a little nauseous, a little light-headed,” according to Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Mitchell was apparently hoping this revelation wouldn't get out (maybe he ate a bad pizza too), but he ultimately admitted he was off. Of course, that didn't stop him from absolutely dominating the second half after scuffling through the first half. The Jazz guard put up 32 of his game-high 45 points in the second half, with a third-quarter surge helping Utah quickly trim down a 13-point halftime deficit.
Mitchell had “to dig deep” to bring out the best in himself while not feeling like himself:
“Sometimes you just got to dig deep into a different place. I was getting my ass kicked individually in the first half on both ends of the floor; I wasn’t making the right reads, Luke [Kennard] hit a bunch of shots on me, Reggie [Jackson] hit a bunch of shots of me, and there were situations that I was being lazy and letting that fatigue kind of get to me,” Mitchell said. “So I came in at halftime, I just said, ‘Look, I’m just going to find a way.’”
Mitchell roasted the Clippers over and over again down the stretch to keep them at arm's length. While a few late gaffes gave LA a chance to send the game to overtime, Rudy Gobert saved the day with a big block of Marcus Morris.
The 24-year-old should be commended for his unbelievable performance while sick, and while it won't wipe the pain away of MJ's Flu Game, it currently has Jazz fans feeling good about their chances in this series.
Follow Us
Subscribe