'It'll happen when it's supposed to happen': No triple-double, but Jazz rout Warriors

SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell looked to be on the verge of history.

At halftime, he had 5 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. By the middle of the third quarter, he was at 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Was this the night? Was Utah's league-leading regular-season triple-double drought about to end?

Alas, the weird hex that has been on the Utah Jazz since Feb. 13, 2008, when Carlos Boozer recorded the team's last regular-season triple-double will continue.

Mitchell came up two assists shy of the elusive triple-double Wednesday night. The Jazz, instead, settled for a 26-point win over the Golden State Warriors, who came into Salt Lake City as winners of nine straight.

Call it a nice consolation prize.

Utah played one of its best two-way game of the season, smashing the Warriors 111-85 Wednesday at Vivint Arena.

For a team that's waited nearly 14 years for a regular season triple-double (Ricky Rubio had one in the playoffs in 2018), it takes a lot to take the attention away from the stat chase.

The Jazz, though, did that on Wednesday.

While Mitchell was filling up the stat sheet (Hassan Whiteside also made a push, finishing with 9 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks), the Jazz did something that's rarely happened this season: They beat a contending team; and they did more than just beat them, they overwhelmed the Warriors.

Utah held Golden State to just 36% shooting and finished with a defensive rating of 91 — the Jazz's fourth-best defensive mark of the season. It was even more impressive considering the team was still without Rudy Gobert and the Warriors jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first three minutes of the contest.

Something clicked after that; actually, just about everything clicked.

"Guys on the perimeter, they got pride," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "They know things that people say, and that's sometimes a challenge for us, and they take it personally. It's got to be the collective. This is the NBA. Good offense happens a lot, so you have to be in position to help."

The Jazz quickly recovered from the initial onslaught to take a lead into halftime. Then a 34-9 run between the third and fourth quarters all but ended the game.

"We did a great job staying up on (Steph) Curry," Whiteside said. "I was trying to be up on him as much as possible, make it tough for him. He's an amazing shooter, and guys shifted over. I think we did a great job of communicating and spacing out. We played really great basketball."

Curry was just 5 of 13 for 16 points against Utah.

Bojan Bogdanovic had 23 points and six rebounds to lead Utah, and Mike Conley added 13 points and six assists in the win. Even with the triple-double chase, Wednesday night was about Utah's defense.

It was an important win for the Jazz and they showed they could beat a contending team — though, the Warriors were without Draymond Green and Klay Thompson — but it was more proof that the January lull is behind the Jazz. Snyder, though, doesn't want to read too much into it.

"I don't want to get too high because a week or two ago, the sky may have been falling for some people," Snyder said. "I didn't think that was the case, and also don't think that this (is the opposite). This is one game. We played the right way. We did the things that we need continue to do. So what it should be is something that we can look at and understand why we played well."

But back to the triple-double chase …

Whiteside admitted he thought he had a chance at it — though, he didn't know exactly how meaningful it would have been. It's his first year with the Jazz, so he doesn't know the history. When he was told about the drought, he gave a blank stare and said: "Wow, that's a long time."

All of a sudden, it was more clear to him why Mitchell — who is well aware of the history with the stat line — was crashing down and fighting him for rebounds.

It was assists that Mitchell needed to chase a little more. After getting seven in the first half, the star guard had just one more in the second half — and that didn't come until the middle of the fourth quarter.

As Mitchell walked into his postgame press conference, he was immediately asked why — with the Jazz approaching a 30-point lead — he didn't try to pad those assist totals more.

"I had to make sure the game was in a situation where they couldn't come back," Mitchell said, half-joking.

But all Mitchell could do was pass the ball; his teammates had to make the shot.

Royce O'Neale missed an open corner 3-pointer after a pass from Mitchell; Jordan Clarkson passed up an open shot; and Bogdanovic missed a layup. Those are just three examples — and there were more — of missed opportunities at the still mythical triple-double.

"We had some good looks, though," Mitchell said. "It'll happen when it's supposed to happen."

The drought continues, but the Jazz got one of their biggest wins of the season Wednesday.

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