On Friday night, the Utah Jazz defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-91, advancing to the second round of the playoffs, where they will face the Houston Rockets on Sunday afternoon. Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell stole the show, scoring 38 points, 20 of which were scored in the 3rd quarter. With Ricky Rubio going out with a hamstring injury (possibly out for a few weeks) and Russell Westbrook in full attack mode, the Jazz needed a big game from Mitchell and boy did he deliver.
What made Mitchell's performance so special was the way he took over the game. He did it all, hitting deep threes, throwing down vicious dunks, and slicing through defenders to make ridiculous layups around the basket. The amount of English he put on some of those shots was tantamount to what you'd see in a game of billiards. He was having one of those nights where nearly anything he threw at the basket found a way to go in.
Yet as well as Mitchell played, the Jazz didn't win this game by his performance alone. After all, Russell Westbrook was the top performer of the night, finishing with 46 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. What got the Jazz past the Thunder both on Friday and in this series was their selflessness and commitment to team basketball. Everyone found a way to contribute, whether it was Joe Ingles knocking down clutch threes, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert controlling the paint, or Ricky Rubio setting up others for easy baskets. Even Alec Burks got in on the action, scoring 11 points on Friday in 17 minutes of action.
What allows the Jazz to play this type of team basketball is the system put in place by head coach Quin Snyder, which demands lots of ball movement, cutting, and stellar defense. The Jazz realize that when they play the way Snyder wants them to, that brings out the best in them both as a team and as individuals. It takes a certain type of player to buy into this philosophy and the Jazz front office has done a stellar job of bringing in guys who embrace it.
As for whether or not the Jazz can actually take out the Houston Rockets, I personally expect the Rockets to win only because they have more talent. James Harden will be the best player in the series and Chris Paul could be the second best player. That all said, if the Jazz play the way they did against the Thunder and continue to execute the way Quin Snyder wants them to, they could make this an interesting series. As good as the Rockets look, they did show moments of vulnerability against the Timberwolves. They will definitely need to play a lot better if they want to avoid a competitive and close series with the Jazz.
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