Donovan Mitchell is still putting up big numbers for the Utah Jazz in their first round playoffs series, but the Dallas Mavericks are making him work for every point.
The Jazz star admitted as much after they lost Game 5 on Monday, which pushed them to trail the Mavs 3-2. Mitchell also gave the biggest credit to Dorian Finney-Smith for his defense, adding that he has been saying how great of a defender the 28-year-old is.
“I give credit to Finney-Smith. I've been saying that since the beginning of the year,” Mitchell said when asked why he's struggling scoring in the series, per Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune.
In their Game 5 loss, during which he exit the fourth quarter due to a hamstring injury, Donovan Mitchell scored just nine points on 4-of-15 shooting. He also went 0-of7 from deep, and that's thanks in large part to Dorian Finney-Smith's defense on him.
It was the same story for Mitchell in previous contests, as he event went 7-of-21 in Game 4. Overall, the Jazz guard attempted 116 shots in the series so far and made just 44 for a 37.9 percent shooting clip.
For his part, after learning Mitchell's compliments, Finney-Smith showed appreciation but also noted that he hopes the All-Star scorer keeps missing his shots.
“Appreciate it, but we got one more. I hope he keep struggling,” DFS said, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.
Mitchell's status for Game 6 remains unclear because of his hamstring injury, but if he does end up playing, fans can expect him to do his best to take revenge on Finney-Smith.
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