Mitchell’s ability to facilitate provided a key spark in Utah’s 116-108 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. The victory evened their Western Conference semifinals series at 1-1 and put the Rockets in a much tougher spot than expected heading into Game 3 on Friday.
Filling in for injured Ricky Rubio at point guard DaeSean Hamilton Color Rush Jersey , Mitchell dished out a career-high 11 assists against Houston. He had seven assists in the first half alone. The Jazz clicked all over the court with the rookie at the controls, shooting 52 percent from the field overall — including 15 of 32 from 3-point range.
“Just being poised and staying under control was the biggest thing,” Mitchell said. “It allows me to be able to make those passes and make those reads. The second half, I got away from it, but started to get back to it.”
Mitchell’s teammates did the most with those reads. Joe Ingles went a career-best 7 of 9 from 3-point range en route to a career-high 27 points. Alec Burks and Jae Crowder combined for 32 points and 14 rebounds off the bench.
Making the right reads offensively also paid off on the other end of the court. The Jazz were able to be more aggressive defensively and keep the Rockets on their heels during the first half and then late in the second half.
Utah stayed poised even after Houston rallied from a 19-point deficit and took a five point lead late in the third quarter.
“You’re going to have breakdowns against these guys because they’re so good,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. “They put so much pressure on you. But I thought defensively we had a really good collective effort. We were a little tougher minded on defense, more disciplined with what we were trying to do.”
For Houston, the loss feels like an unexpected turn after it swept all four regular-season meetings with the Jazz. The Rockets put themselves in an early hole with a tepid start. They lacked energy in the first half and it showed.
Utah pushed the pace before halftime and generated tons of open 3-pointers or open layups and dunks. Houston seemed to be on cruise control early. Even after James Harden woke the team up late in the second quarter Marcus Davenport Color Rush Jersey , scoring 12 points in four minutes to spark a rally, the Rockets never quite fully got back on track.
“We just lost our way in the first half,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I thought we played better (after halftime). Series is on. We have to get it going now.”
Harden finished with 32 points, Chris Paul added 23 and Clint Capela chipped in 21 points. But Paul and Harden both struggled with their outside shot, going a combined 4 of 15 from 3-point range.
As a team, Houston shot just 10 of 37 (27 percent) from the perimeter. It offered a stark contrast from Game 1, where the Rockets went 17 of 32 from outside en route to a 110-96 win.
“They came out,” Paul said. “They made shots. They were aggressive. We didn’t. We got to stay more aggressive throughout the game on both ends.”
Houston hasn’t lost in Salt Lake City since falling to 120-101 to the Jazz on November 29 Sam Darnold Color Rush Jersey , 2016. The Rockets won both regular-season games by 11 points — most recently 96-85 on Feb. 26 behind 26 points and 11 rebounds from James Harden.
CLEVELAND — For the third time in as many postseasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers enter Game 3 against the Toronto Raptors leading the series 2-0.
But this is the first time the third game was on Cleveland’s home floor. It’s an uh-oh moment for the Raptors, who were swept out of the Eastern Conference semis by the Cavs last season and are in danger of it happening again.
The Cavs would very much like for history to repeat itself.
“It’s one game at a time, and that’s the only way we should look at it,” said LeBron James, who in Game 2 became the first player in NBA history to score at least 40 points (43) with 14 assists in a playoff game.
“We will not put our guards down,” James said. “I won’t, so that’s going to trickle down to everybody else. Understanding that the series is never won until it’s over. You’ve got to win four games to get out of a series and it starts with the next game Ronnie Harrison Color Rush Jersey , so I will be as sharp as I was tonight.”
The Raptors finished the regular season atop the East and were the only team in the NBA ranked in the top five in offense and defense. But the Cavs are three-time defending conference champs. They are the ones playing with poise so far in this series.
Toronto has been outscored 34-8 in points off turnovers (Cleveland set a franchise record with just three turnovers in a 128-110 win in Game 2), and by 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavs opened the third quarter on an 18-5 spurt.
“We’re 0-2, we understand that,” Toronto coach Dwane Casey said. “It’
s hope, it’s pride, it’s toughness. The toughness part is the part I didn’t think we played with last night. I thought we did in Game 1. We did in parts of last night. But we didn’t do it long enough. So it’s about grit, toughness.
“If you want to use the word hope … If we’re hoping we win, we shouldn’t be in the NBA Billy Price Color Rush Jersey ,” Casey continued. “That’s not a good word to use if you’re a professional player.”
There’s more bad news coming for the Raptors. They didn’t win a playoff game in Cleveland in either of the previous two years, and have lost eight straight to the Cavs in the postseason overall dating to the 2016 conference finals.
Counting the regular season, the Raptors have dropped four straight against Cleveland, including two at Quicken Loans Arena.
Kevin Love has struggled for much of the postseason, but averaged 20.5 points and shot 66.7 percent from 3-point range in those two regular-season wins over Toronto. Naturally, he had his finest game of the 2018 playoffs in Game 2 with 31 points and 11 rebounds.
The Raptors continually switched smaller players onto Love in Game 2 and he dominated them. In Game 1 (Love was 3 of 13), Toronto used the 7-foot bruiser Jonas Valanciunas on Love and gave him fits.
“It felt nice to see those mismatches or even see the big out on the perimeter on me — whether it was Valanciunas or Siakam or Poeltl or whoever it was — I just kind of was able to get some easy buckets,” Love said. “So that got me going early and Bron was looking for me and those guys helped me through it.”
So John Kelly Color Rush Jersey , in summation, it’s not looking good for the Raptors.
“Ain’t nothing changed,” Raptors reserve guard Fred VanVleet said. “There’s a reason why we are who we are. There’s a reason why we’re in the position we’re in. We get paid to do this. Obviously, it hasn’t been our best showing, down 0-2. But it’s the first to four. All we can worry about is going to Cleveland trying to get one.”
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