Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DALLAS — It was simple to Donovan Mitchell: the Utah Jazz were already down Rudy Gobert and Bojan Bogdanovic and were in one of the most important games of the season — it wasn't an option to sit out.
So even as he grimaced and hobbled off the court after Dwight Powell landed on his ankle in the third quarter, Mitchell felt he needed to come back. He didn't think it was that bad, and so he lobbied his coach to return.
It wasn't a storybook ending, though. Mitchell didn't overcome the ankle turn to lead the Jazz to a surprising victory; instead, he labored through a few more minutes until Dallas' lead was insurmountable — all while it was obvious how much he was hurting.
"He felt like it wasn't that bad and if he came out he wouldn't be able to come back in," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of the decision to keep Mitchell in the game. "With certain players, there's a relationship. Sometimes the coach has to trust the player and sometimes players have to trust the coach. I trusted him."
In the end, it was Mitchell's choice to remain in — power that has been with him since last postseason when he forced himself into the first-round series against Memphis after the Jazz medical staff ruled him out for Game 1 due to an ankle sprain. He was back for Game 2, but by the end of Utah's playoff run his ankle was playing through pain after re-aggravating the injury.
The big question following the game was how much of hindrance will the ankle turn be? Mitchell didn't have a noticeable limp as he walked through the tunnel to the team bus following the game and wasn't wearing any type of brace.
"Basically, we'll see how it feels tomorrow," Mitchell said. "It's sore — I'm not gonna lie to you. I knew how significant tonight was and wasn't gonna allow it to hold me back. I trusted playing."
A feeling that might have been heightened with Gobert being a late scratch on Sunday due to a lateral right leg contusion — or better known as a bruise.
"I know how important this game was for Don and our team in general," Mike Conley said. "So no matter what happened, he was going to go back out there and play. We all kind of felt that way. We don't want him to risk anything, obviously, if it was just too much, but he felt capable of playing and guys saw his leadership in that aspect."
Mitchell admitted he wasn't 100% when he returned to the game but felt his presence could do some good.
"This was a big game. Every competitor wants to be in there for his teammates," Mitchell said. "I wasn't shooting the ball particularly well, but just being out there drawing guys. They were helping everybody on my drives, so I was getting guys shots; sometimes even just standing there allowed guys to get into paint. So I first told (Snyder) to leave me out there, and I'll stand and space or let the eyes look at me and I'll get somebody a shot."
But as the Mavericks' lead realization sank in.
"Ultimately at the end of the day, it wasn't smart to stay out there," Mitchell said.
Now, the question is if he'll miss any time.
