Donovan Mitchell Fakes Pass, Buries Three-Pointer Against Celtics
Mar 23, 2022, 6:14 PM
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives against Dennis Schroder #71 and Robert Williams #44 of the Boston Celtics during the second half of their game on December 3, 2021 at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell faked out the defense before knocking down a three-pointer early in Utah’s game against the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics hosted the Jazz at TD Garden on Wednesday, March 23.
Early in the first quarter, Mitchell passed the ball inside the paint to Royce O’Neale. The Jazz forward dished the ball back out to Mitchell, who faked a pass to clear the way for an open look. Mitchell connected on a 27-foot shot to cut Boston’s lead to 10-8 with 9:14 remaining in the quarter.
dish.
get it back.
swish.#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/lfCGtBjc0O— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 23, 2022
At the end of the opening 12 minutes of game time, Utah trailed Boston, 39-24. Mitchell led the Jazz with eight points on 2-5 shooting, including 1-4 from beyond the arc. Mitchell was 3-3 from the free throw line. He added one steal in 10 minutes on the court.
This season, Mitchell is averaging 26.0 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting, including 36.3 percent from downtown.
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Jazz vs. Celtics
Though Bojan Bogdanovic and Danuel House Jr. are both traveling with the Jazz, neither player has made an appearance on the team’s current six-game road trip.
Bogdanovic has missed the Jazz last five games with a calf strain and has been ruled out Wednesday’s game against Boston.
House Jr. suffered a knee bruise in the Jazz loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 14 and hasn’t appeared in the last four games.
Between the two players, the Jazz are missing key depth on the wing and two valuable floor spacing scorers.
The @utahjazz game tonight against the @celtics might be their toughest of the season.#TakeNote https://t.co/SfRSkUANAe
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 23, 2022
Bogdanovic is the Jazz’s second-leading scorer at 18.1 points per game while shooting 39 percent from the three-point line.
House Jr. is averaging just 6.5 points per game but leads the team in three-point shooting at 44 percent.
The Jazz have offered no timeline on when either player might return.
Celtics Are NBA’s Hottest Team
Exactly two months ago, the Celtics sat at an even 24-24 on the season and in the eighth seed of the Eastern Conference.
But over the last two months, Boston has become nearly unbeatable winning 22 of their last 26 games while owning the league’s best net rating by a significant margin.
The Celtics are outscoring their opponents by an average of 15.1 points per game, and 15.8 points per 100 possessions. The next closest is the league-leading Phoenix Suns who own a net rating of 9.8 during the stretch.
📻 LISTEN LIVE: @utahjazz vs. @celtics on @ZoneSportsNet and the @kslsports app 🎷☘️🏀#TakeNote #UTAvsBOS https://t.co/LqmyLeIzsG
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 23, 2022
Boston’s offensive rating of 118.7 ranks third best during the stretch, while their 102.9 defensive rating is tops in the league, nearly five points better than the second-ranked Miami Heat.
The Celtics own the fourth-best record in the East but are just 2.5 games out of the top spot in the conference.
Utah’s game against Boston is broadcast on AT&T SportsNet, NBA League Pass, and The Zone Sports Network.
