Donovan Mitchell scored 26 of his 30 points in the first half and the fast-starting Utah Jazz advanced to the second round of the playoffs, beating the Memphis Grizzlies 126-110 on Wednesday night in Game 5.
“I think setting the tone was huge,” Mitchell said about Utah’s quick start. “We did that as unit on both ends of the floor and understanding that you can’t give a team like that life.”
Mitchell also had 10 assists and six rebounds in 29 minutes, getting a little rest before facing the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks matchup.
“Donovan’s got better every single year since he’s got here and obviously having him back was key and was huge for us because of the way we’re playing now. It’s fun to play with Donovan,” said Rudy Gobert, who had 23 points and 15 rebounds for Utah.
Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points and Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points to help power the top-seeded Jazz to their fourth straight victory.
Even after a cool fourth quarter, the Jazz shot 53%.
“We really moved the ball, and when we do that, the first thing that has to happen is we have to space — we can’t be standing next to each other — to move the ball the way we want,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “We had the willingness to pass and to shoot.”
Ja Morant had 27 points and 11 assists for Memphis. Dillon Brooks also had 27 points, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18.
