Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz spoil Ja Morant's historic Game 2 performance
Welcome back, Mr. Mitchell!
In his first NBA action since April 16, Donovan Mitchell marked his 2021 playoff debut for the Utah Jazz with 25 points in 26 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies, and Utah evened the Western Conference first-round series at a game apiece with a 141-129 win.
No doubt about it, Mitchell was fired up to make his return.
On the other end, the Grizzlies squandered another standout performance from Ja Morant, who continued his sensational start to his playoff career with 47 points, a franchise record in both the regular season and the postseason.
The game looked like it was set to be a runaway early, but the Grizzlies battled back in the third and fourth quarters to serve notice that they wouldn't be going away without a fight, despite the final score seemingly indicating otherwise.
Here's what stood out from Game 2's defense-optional affair between the Grizzlies and Jazz.
Key performer: Ja Morant
There was no shortage of viable candidates from the winning team — including Mitchell (25 points in 25:39 of game time), Rudy Gobert (21 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks) and Mike Conley (20 points, 15 assists) — but Morant shined above all, despite it being in a losing effort.
The 21-year-old finished with 47 points on 15-for-26 shooting and simply would not quit against the Jazz.
Need some evidence? Look no further than this casual reverse alley-oop in the fourth quarter.
Combined with his 26 points in Game 1, Morant finished with 73 points in his first two career playoff games, second in NBA history to only the legendary George Mikan's 75 points.
En route to dialing up 73 in his first two postseason games, Morant passed guys such as Chris Paul (67 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (69 points) and Luka Dončić (70 points). Not bad company!
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Turning point: Jazz weather Memphis' rallies
Foul trouble for a trio of Grizzlies stars — Dillon Brooks, Jonas Valanciunas and Jaren Jackson Jr. all picked up three fouls in the first half — certainly played a part in a sketchy first half for Memphis.
Up 74-54 heading into the third quarter, Utah appeared poised to run away with Game 2, but Memphis had other ideas.
The Grizzlies mounted a 17-10 run to open the third quarter and cut the lead to 84-71. Later in the quarter, they trimmed the deficit to two points with just more than three minutes to go.
The Grizzlies outscored the Jazz 43-29 in the third, but Utah responded with authority to kickstart the final frame.
A thunderous dunk from Gobert to start the fourth quarter put the wheels in motion. Utah fended off another Grizzlies rally midway through the fourth to put the finishing touches on the 12-point win in front of the home fans.
Wild card: 3-point shooting
Today's NBA is all about connecting from distance, so perhaps it's fitting that Mitchell's first bucket in his return from injury was a 3-pointer.
Despite all the fireworks from Morant, he went 2-for-7 on 3-pointers for the evening, and his two 3s tied a team high. Meanwhile, Utah had five players hit two or more triples, with Mitchell's five 3-pointers leading the way.
To make matters worse for the Grizzlies, they fouled multiple Jazz shooters behind the arc to send them to the free-throw line.
After shooting 25.5% from distance in Game 1, Utah converted 48.7% of its attempted 3s in Game 2, which could spell big trouble for the Grizzlies.
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Twitter's take:
Did you know?
With Wednesday's win, the Jazz improved to 40-14 this season when Mitchell plays.
What's next:
After snagging home court with a split in Utah, the Grizzlies will look to hold serve at home starting with Game 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
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