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SALT LAKE CITY — It was a Christmas miracle — or something close to it, at least.
In the first quarter of Utah’s 117-96 win over Portland Tuesday night, Donovan Mitchell finished an alley-oop that not even he knew he could finish.
When Jae Crowder saw Mitchell streaking behind the defense, he knew he had to try it. It didn’t matter that Crowder was still behind the half court line, he still threw it up there. And he put it where only the high-flying Mitchell could get.
“I saw no one behind him,” Crowder said. “So I just threw it. I play a free type of game and I just wanted to make a play, and he was wide open and no one behind him, and he did a great job of going up and getting it.”
Getting it wasn’t the problem. Everything else was.
“The catch was easy,” Mitchell said.
It didn’t necessarily look easy, though. Mitchell extended his left arm before pulling it into both hands. According to Mitchell, that is when things got hard. He had to turn and find the rim. And that wasn't as simple as it sounds.
Mitchell admitted he didn’t quite know where he was on the court when he made the catch. And that made finishing the dunk a little challenging.
“I didn’t know if I was going to airball the dunk, you know, dunk nothing,” Mitchell said. “It was kind of like praying to God that it was right there — and it was.”
Mitchell somehow hung up there long enough to cap off the half-court alley-oop with an emphatic two-hand slam.
“It was a Christmas gift from God,” Mitchell said.
And a Christmas gift to all Jazz fans.
SPIDA MAN, SPIDA MAN, DOES WHATEVER A SPIDA CAN 🕷 pic.twitter.com/ZEKcCLL6BR
— ESPN (@espn) December 26, 2018
Kyle Korver’s Christmas speech
Kyle Korver walked to the center court with a microphone in hand. Before Tuesday’s game, Korver had a message for the Jazz crowd.
He first urged the Jazz crowd to “give some love” to the Blazers who were playing away from their families. Some of the fans obliged; others were less willing.
“You can boo them later, but show some love now,” Korver said.
He also put into words why Christmas and the holiday season is so special to so many.
“In its purest form, today is a day of hope, of joy, of love and peace," Korver said.
New Mitchell gear?
Mitchell sported a new Adidas hoodie following the win on Tuesday. On it was a new logo for his “Spida” brand.
Does the new logo mean new gear? New shoes? New anything?
“Stay tuned for more,” an Adidas tweet said.
