Donovan Mitchell put together the best performance of his NBA career in Monday's Game 1 between the Jazz and Nuggets. The 23-year-old exploded for 57 points, the third-highest mark in playoff history behind only Elgin Baylor (61 points in 1962) and Michael Jordan (63 points in 1986).
And it wasn't just what Mitchell did against Denver's defense. It was how he did it.
Mitchell decisively attacked the basket, confidently stepped into pull-up jumpers and found open teammates when scoring opportunities weren't available, totaling seven assists.
The 3rd highest scoring performance in #NBAPlayoffs history ‼️@spidadmitchell goes off for a career-high in any game 57 PTS, 9 REB, 7 AST for the @utahjazz in Game 1!#Drop40 x #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/uZTOSuadw1
— NBA (@NBA) August 17, 2020
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When the game was over, though, Mitchell didn't walk over to ESPN's Malika Andrews to chat about setting a new franchise record for points in a postseason contest — because the Jazz lost.
Instead, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who scored 36 points and led Denver to a 135-125 overtime victory, spoke with Andrews and exclaimed his surprise at Mitchell's stat line.
"He had, what, 57? Goddamn, (Donovan)," Murray said. "He was killing us. We couldn't get a stop."
"He had 57? God damn, D."
— ESPN (@espn) August 17, 2020
Jamal Murray had to give props to Donovan Mitchell dropping 57 points 😂 pic.twitter.com/mY517kI9nP
The Jazz are missing Bojan Bogdanovic (wrist surgery) and Mike Conley (birth of his son). Mitchell knew he had a huge offensive burden on his shoulders to start the first-round series, and he carried that load as well as possible in Game 1.
But his outburst is also a worrying sign for the Jazz; if they can't secure a win with that kind of showing from Mitchell, how much longer will they last in these playoffs?
There are other factors to consider, of course. The Nuggets shot 22 of 41 from 3-point range (53.7 percent), a significant increase from their regular season average (35.9). Denver hit some tough shots from the outside, and Murray in particular seemed to find the bottom of the net regardless of how tightly he was defended.
However, Murray, unlike Mitchell, didn't need to do it alone. Nikola Jokic totaled 29 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Every Nuggets starter had at least eight points, and Jerami Grant (19 points) and Monte Morris (14 points, four assists) contributed off the bench. Outside of Mitchell, Jazz players shot 27 of 64 (42.2 percent) from the field.
Still, the fact that the Jazz couldn't take a 1-0 lead behind Mitchell's superhuman effort is concerning. If Utah can't give him some help, the highlights will undoubtedly be spectacular, but the ending will be the same.
