Atlanta • Facing a team that came in with the second-lowest winning percentage in the league, which had dropped five straight games, and that was coming off an abysmal defensive effort in which it surrendered an eye-popping 143 points, you’d think Thursday night’s game should’ve been pretty easy for the visiting Jazz.
In fact, nothing much came easy for Utah vs. the Atlanta Hawks. At least, not until Donovan Mitchell got to work late.
The third-year guard took over down the stretch, racking up 10 of his 30 points in the final half-dozen minutes, including calmly draining the clinching free throws in the final seconds of the eventual 111-106 victory as the home crowd serenaded him with chants of “Over-rated.”
“That’s one of the reasons that, early, we were a little stagnant, because we want him to be that aggressive at the right time of the game. It’s hard to do that for 36, 38 minutes,” said coach Quin Snyder. “So for us to be able to move the ball and have everybody touch it, and for it to come back to him, that’s the key for us, to trust each other; and then obviously, at the end of the game, we trust Donovan.”
The win was Utah’s fourth in a row, and bolstered the team’s record to 17-11 on the season.
But it took plenty of work to get it.
With the Hawks ratcheting up their defensive intensity on the perimeter — stepping up to deny 3-point looks, blowing up dribble-handoffs — the Jazz’s offense was discombobulated early.
The defense was similarly out of sorts, as Atlanta made exactly 50% of its shots in the opening half to remain out in front.
The final 24 minutes of play brought significant tactical shifts from Utah on both ends, however — changes that took a while to completely shift the momentum, but which ultimately swung the game.
“We really wanted to come out and get some stops,” said Rudy Gobert, who finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks.
“The biggest thing was as long as we got stops. … We just picked up our intensity on defense, just made it tougher on them for every possession,” added Mitchell. “… We were just able to be the aggressor, and that’s what we need to continue doing.”
And indeed, the Jazz’s increased aggressiveness on that end made a difference, with the Hawks converting just 18 of 48 shots (37.5%) after the break.
Meanwhile, with Utah’s offense unable to generate much from beyond the arc, the Jazz shifted to driving the lane and wearing out the paint.
After going 4 of 13 from deep in the first half, the Jazz attempted only a quartet of 3-pointers in the third quarter. On the other hand, though, after getting 17 attempts from the foul line before the break, they got 15 more in the third period alone. (They would finish 6 of 24 from 3, and 27 of 38 from the stripe for the game.)
“[Mitchell’s] ability to get to the rim, it’s always important — especially when you have a chance to get to the foul line,” Snyder pointed out.
It paid dividends as the game went on.
Rookie starting center Bruno Fernando picked up four fouls in just 17 minutes, 10 seconds of action. Veteran big man Alex Len fouled out in only 16:47 of court time. That prompted Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce to frequently deploy the undersized Jabari Parker at the five spot, and while he feasted offensively on Utah’s second unit (23 points on 10-of-16 shooting), he provided absolutely zero dissuasion on the Jazz’s forays to the rim.
“They took Alex Len out, and I saw us being able to get to the rim, find ways to get downhill,” said Mitchell, who had five assists. “And then once you make a few, you start to feel a little more confident.”
That certainly showed at the end. Mitchell drove under the hoop, faked a pass, then reverse-pivoted past the surprised defenders for the layup that put Utah ahead for good. On the other end, he swiped the ball from rookie Cam Reddish, facilitating a Bojan Bogdanovic lob to Royce O’Neale for an alley-oop layup.
From there, O’Neale blocked Parker’s own layup try; Gobert shrugged off his defender to ram home a putback dunk off an O’Neale miss; Mitchell drained his freebies; and Gobert absolutely stuffed lottery pick De’Andre Hunter’s dunk attempt.
“I think our urgency was much better at the end,” said Gobert. “We know that when it’s the last few minutes of the game, we have to raise our level, we have to raise our focus.”
