Salt Lake City (USA), May 26 (EFE) .- The star guard Donovan Mitchell returned through the big door as the starter of the Utah Jazz by scoring 25 points and leading the balanced attack that led them to the victory of 141- 129 against the Memphis Grizzlies in the second game of the Western Conference first round playoff tie, which is now tied (1-1) for best of seven.
Although Mitchell, who scored 5 of 10 3-point attempts, had to be limited in minutes when he returned from an injury, in the 26 minutes he was on the court it was the offensive boost that the Jazz needed to regain their team status with the best league mark during the regular season.
Along with Mitchell, point guard Mike Conley, a former Grizzlies franchise player, was in charge of directing the attack by scoring a double-double of 20 points, including three triples from five attempts, 15 assists – his best professional record – and four rebounds. .
While the French center Rudy Gobert was in charge of leading the interior game with another double-double of 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic reached 18 points, although he did not have his best shooting inspiration from outside the perimeter when he missed 5 of the 6 shots he made.
But power forward Royce O’Neale did have it and responded with 14 points after scoring 4 of 6 3-point attempts, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Again, point guard Jordan Clarkson, winner of the Sixth Player award, responded along the same lines with a contribution of 16 points and six rebounds.
Australian forward Joe Ingles, who also came off the bench, maintained his status as a great team player and scored another 14 points to close the list of seven Jazz players who had double-digit numbers and finished with a 54 percent accuracy. on field goals and 49% from triples (19-39).
The great teamwork of the Jazz made it possible for them to stay with the victory and they could overcome another brilliant individual performance from point guard Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, who finished with 47 points after scoring 15 of 26 shots from the field, including 2 of 7 triples, and 15 of 20 from the personnel line, in addition to distributing seven assists and capturing four rebounds.
Morant broke Conley’s Memphis playoff scoring record and became the first player to score as many as 71 points in the first two playoff games of his career since the NBL merged with the BAA to create the pre-NBA NBA. 1949-50 season.
Gobert’s two dunks on pick-and-rolls fueled a 10-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters and gave the Jazz a 110-97 lead after a three-point play by Mitchell, which would be decisive.
Forward Dillon Brooks, who scored 23 points, also dunked that put the Grizzlies within 121-112 with 7:06 to play, but Memphis was unable to stop Utah’s multi-faceted attack, which scored at least 36 points on three of the four periods.
The Grizzlies’ tall men, Lithuanian center Jonas Valanciunas contributed 18 points with six rebounds and power forward Jaren Jackson Jr. reached 16 and also captured three balls under the hoops.
Mitchell was ready to play Sunday, but Jazz medical staff pulled him out of the lineup hours before the game, frustrating the Utah star who missed 17 games with a sprained ankle.
Mitchell’s anger simmered as he watched the Jazz drop Game 1 against the young and revalued Grizzlies.
He finally got together with his teammates and made sure they knew that it was not his decision to sit down and that he wanted to be on the field.
On Monday, Mitchell proclaimed that he was going to play in Game 2, no matter what, and the team agreed. He tried to make up for lost time, scoring 12 points with three triples in his first eight minutes.
As he did in Game 1, Brooks gave the Grizzlies a huge boost once they eased some foul trouble.
Brooks and Morant had good shots to the basket as Memphis made 17 of 20 shots from the field to start the third quarter, cutting the lead to 93-91 with a 3-pointer by reserve point guard De’Antony Melton.
The Grizzlies scored 43 points in the third period, a franchise record, with a 67% shooting from the field, led by Morant’s 13.
But in the end, the aggressiveness in the Jazz attack was what made the difference in the scoreboard in favor of the Jazz, who will travel to Memphis, where the third game will be played, on Sunday, May 30 at the FedExForum, the field of the Grizzies.
Clarkson received the Sixth Man of the Year award before the game.
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