The Jazz closed out their first-round series with the Thunder on Friday night, holding Oklahoma City off in Game 6 with a 96-91 victory. Utah will now turn its attention to the Rockets as their series gets started on Sunday.
Here are three takeaways from Utah's big win in Game 6...
He's just a rookie?!
Donovan Mitchell had the look of someone campaigning not just for the league's Rookie of the Year award, but also the MVP. Mitchell lit up the Thunder in the third period with 22 points and finished with a team-high 38 points.
After Utah's loss in Game 5, Mitchell provided a pseudo guarantee as he walked off the court in Oklahoma City — he backed up his words in Game 6. The Thunder struggled to cover Mitchell all series long, especially in pick-and-roll scenarios.
The Jazz's success in the conference semifinals against the Rockets will greatly depend on how Mitchell is able to attack their defense.
Where was Playoff P?
Critics will continue to call out Carmelo Anthony for his lack of impact on this series, but Paul George disappeared in Game 6 when the Thunder needed him most. "Playoff P" looked more like "Preseason P," finishing with just five points on 2-for-16 shooting from the field. While he did manage to dish out eight assists, he canceled those out by committing six turnovers.
Mitchell and Joe Ingles also had their way with George on the other end. George did little to make anyone believe he was an All-NBA quality defender.
This was the worst possible time for George to lay down a stinker, and now the questions around his free agency will take over his offseason.
Missed opportunities
The non-call on George's late three-point attempt will be the topic of discussion for Thunder fans as they begin the offseason, but they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with.
When Mitchell picked up his fifth foul with 10:01 remaining in the game, the Thunder were down by five. They had an opening to go on a run and force head coach Quin Snyder to make a call — sit Mitchell and watch the lead evaporate, or put Mitchell on the floor and risk him fouling out.
Instead, the Thunder turned the ball over four times over the next four minutes, leading to an 8-0 Jazz run. Oklahoma City finished the game with 13 turnovers, five of them coming in the fourth quarter.
OKC was able to battle back and create an opportunity to tie late, but four missed 3-pointers in the final minute of the game ended any chances of pushing Game 6 to overtime.
Free throws were a problem all year for the Thunder, and in the final game of their season, they shot a poor 53.8 percent at the line.
This was a tough way to end such a promising season in Oklahoma City.
