Subscribe
Follow Us
The Utah Jazz had a prime opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead over the Luka Doncic-less Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. After leading for much of the game, the Jazz held a 93-86 lead with just over eight minutes to play. They just needed to buckle down and execute in crunch time to secure another huge road win.
But as they have so often of late, Utah collapsed down the stretch. The Jazz got outscored 24-11 the rest of the game, suffering a 110-104 loss.
All the usual Jazz jokes and Rudy Gobert slander came out after this latest collapse. Gobert is an easy scapegoat in these situations when opponents go small and spread Utah out, especially because he often then doesn't punish them on the other end of the court. Gobert finish this game with eight points (2-of-5 shooting), 17 rebounds, two blocks and four turnovers while posting a minus-10 in 37 minutes. He deserves some criticism.
But there are two players who deserve more after this tough loss, which evened the series at 1-1 with things shifting to Utah and Doncic's status still up in the air.
*Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Jazz players to blame for Game 2 collapse vs. Mavs
The Jazz star scored 34 points in 41 minutes, but it took him 30 shots to get there (13-of-30) and he once again struggled when it mattered most. Mitchell had seven points on 3-of-11 shooting in the game-deciding fourth quarter, continuing a season full of struggles in the fourth quarter and, specifically, crunch time.
In the regular season, Mitchell shot just 41.1% overall and 26.8% from 3-point range in the fourth quarter. Narrow that down to the clutch, and he was at 33.3% overall and 18.8% from 3-point range despite taking the third-most clutch shots in the NBA. In this series, he's 1-of-6 in crunch time.
While Mitchell is a great player, he has a habit for poor decision-making and questionable shot selection when the game is on the line. He has a knack for hitting tough shots, but he hasn't done it enough this season and has contributed to too many Utah collapses. He's starting to receive more criticism for rarely passing to Gobert in general, and the criticism will only grow louder if these crunch-time debacles continue.
Then there's the other end of the court, where Mitchell and the Jazz got roasted by Jalen Brunson. Mitchell wasn't the only culprit here as Brunson put up 41 points, but he needs to be better on that end of the court. This is especially true given Utah's lack of perimeter defenders, which really exposes Gobert when other teams go small and fill the floor with shooting.
To his credit, Mitchell understands the problem defensively, but he needs to execute better.
Game 2 was a nightmare for Mike Conley. The veteran guard didn't score a single point as he battled foul trouble in 22 minutes of action. Conley missed all seven of his field goal attempts (three in the fourth quarter) and all three of his 3-point attempts while failing to get to the foul line. He racked up four fouls, four rebounds and three assists. At least he didn't turn the ball over?
Conley was also another player who couldn't do anything to contain Brunson. Conley's counterpart completely destroyed him and everybody else who got in his way. It's no surprise the Jazz lost when the starting point guard matchup was 41-0.
While Conley isn't what he once was, he's still a good player and Utah can't afford him to be putting up goose eggs in playoff games. The Jazz guard simply must be better and can't be badly outplayed by Brunson like this.
