The Utah Jazz drop out of the NBA playoffs after a hard fight. Donavan Mitchell writes history before – but tears follow. His rival comforts him.
No, Donovan Mitchell of Utah Jazz would not accept the end of the NBA playoff first round series (selected games LIVE on TV on SPORT1+) against the Denver Nuggets that easily.
Thanks to his historic performances, Utah finally took the lead with 3-1 wins before Denver fought back with two wins.
In the series’ decisive Game 7, however, Utah was now out of the game in the first half – and neither was Mitchell, who recently became the only player besides Michael Jordan (twice) and Allen Iverson within a playoff series to score at least two games of 50 points or more.
Mitchell leads Utah back into the game
Utah was 19 points behind at the break, before Mitchell pulled himself together and led his team back into the game with a personal 9-0 run. The 23-year-old scored 15 of his total of 22 points in the second half.
With a total of 254 points, Mitchell also broke LeBron James’ record for the most points in a first-round series (241 points against the Indiana Pacers 2018) and is now eighth in the play-off list.
His opponent Jamal Murray, whom Mitchell had defended excellently for a long time in the seventh game, scored no less impressive 232 points.
The spectacular guard duel between Mitchell and Murray over the entire series will thus go down in the history books as they scored 475 points together. Never before had two players from opposing teams scored more points together in a playoff series.
Murray cheers – Conley awards victory
But in the end only one person was allowed to cheer: Jamal Murray. Despite Mitchell losing the ball just a few seconds earlier, Utah even unexpectedly got the chance to win with the final siren.
Playmaker Mike Conley took the last throw as the clock ran out and Mitchell was already tearing his arms in joyful anticipation – but the ball looked only briefly into the basket before it bounced off the ring.
Mitchell sank to the ground and remained there for the time being lying low. But it was Murray, of all people, who immediately ran to him to pay his respects to his most bitter opponent in the series. A long hug and a short conversation followed between the two players who had made the series special.
Mitchell cries – but acts combative
In the following press conference, Mitchell’s eyes betrayed that a short time later, tears were nevertheless shed. Despite all the disappointment, he was proud of his team and his performance, even though his nine turnovers annoyed him in the decisive match.
“I am only scratching the surface. I know what I can do, how hard I have worked, how hard the team has worked. That keeps me going. This is not the end. I am ready to play again right now. I think we all are. This was just the beginning,” Mitchell said.
But while Mitchell will have to wait a while until the new season starts, Canadian Murray and the Denver Nuggets can’t be happy about the success for long. Already in the night from Thursday to Friday, the team around Star Center Nikola Jokic, who shone in game 7 with 30 points and 14 rebounds, continues.
With the Los Angeles Clippers, one of the top favorites is waiting for the Nuggets to win the title – Murray will probably even have to put a shovel to it to give Denver a real chance.