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SALT LAKE CITY — Derrick Favors doesn’t know exactly why Donovan Mitchell has been able to elevate his game over the last couple weeks. He just knows that he has.
“He’s obviously doing something right,” Favors said. “He’s always in the gym, always working on his game. He’s focused. There’s a lot of pressure on him in the point guard position. He’s just out there making plays, making shots and playing great.”
The NBA noticed, too.
On Monday, Mitchell was named the NBA's Western Conference Player of the Week. It’s the first time in his career he has earned an NBA Player of the Week honor.
In four games, Mitchell averaged 31.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds. He shot 48.4 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from 3-point range. Mitchell has scored over 30 points in three games in a row heading into Monday night’s contest against Detroit.
Mitchell has continued his hot January even after taking over point guard duties, following injuries to Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum and Raul Neto in consecutive games. In two starts at point guard, Mitchell is averaging 33.5 points and 7.5 assists.
“He’s shown a decisiveness to attack,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said after Mitchell’s 33-point performance in a win over the Lakers last Friday. “You don’t even have to think of it as scoring, it’s just attacking. Sometimes he’ll be the one to score. Sometimes he’ll pass it. Really, he was ready to go.”
