It was the first quarter when Donovan Mitchell’s friendship with Damian Lillard started showing signs of strain.
That was when Mitchell start hitting shots as Lillard was guarding him, finishing the period with 10 points.
Up until then, it had been friendly texts — dating from when Lillard reached out to him on draft night after Mitchell had been picked 13th overall by the Utah Jazz to say he admired his game. But it’s easy to be friendly when you’re not on opposing sides of the court.
On Wednesday night, Mitchell saw the other side of the Trail Blazers guard.
“I just love going head to head with a guy who loves to compete,” Mitchell said. “Didn’t say much out there on the court, just did his thing.”
So did Mitchell, who had a career-high 28 points to Lillard’s game-leading 33 in the Jazz’s 112-103 overtime win.
It was a duel that was a little unexpected: When Rodney Hood hit a slump going 0 for 11, Mitchell filled in. His aggressiveness and defensive awareness helped convince coach Quin Snyder to keep him in the game, and he ended up playing 35 minutes — longer than he has in any game this season.
While there were times that Mitchell looked like a rookie against Lillard, particularly on defense, there was no doubt that he hung with the former Weber State star. Even Lillard himself had to admit that much.
“In this league, confidence is everything and he definitely has it,” he said of Mitchell. “Then the second half, when the game really means something, everything’s on the line and he’s still knocking down shots and being aggressive. You know that he’s going to have an impact because it’s in him. He has the confidence.”
Lillard has had many nights like the one he had Wednesday, scoring while looking like he was “cruising” in Mitchell’s words, yet cutting through the Utah defense for layups and dishing off effectively (eight assists) in the pick-and-roll.
Mitchell learned firsthand that Lillard has a way of responding to having points scored on him: Twice in the game when he scored a two, Lillard came back to hit a three on the ensuing possession — taking advantage of Mitchell’s defense.
“You get to see how he changes his pace,” Mitchell said of Lillard. “Twice I went under screens, and I realized you can do that in college and get away with at least one, but he made [them] back to back.”
The Jazz eventually let Thabo Sefolosha guard Lillard instead of Mitchell, but they went back to the Louisville product for offense: He scored seven of his points in the fourth quarter, five in overtime.
It was a far cry from a week before, when Mitchell’s shooting struggles dominated discussion about him. But Snyder said he’s remained confident in his rookie throughout.
“He doesn’t have to do that for me to have faith in him,” he said. “That’s the whole definition of faith.”
