Mitchell can't help but laugh as Jazz lose to Hornets in final minute

CHARLOTTE — Donovan Mitchell stopped in disbelief. His open layup with 30 seconds to go — one that he had created with a sleek spin and pump fake that fooled Miles Bridges — had spun somehow around and out.

He stayed planted on the floor as the Hornets collected the rebound that ultimately ended Charlotte's 107-101 victory over Utah Friday at the Spectrum Center, and he laughed.

Yes, laughed.

"That was probably one of our better fourth quarters up until that moment," said Mitchell, who had 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting. "It's one of those things there's no other emotion to have at that point; we've had them all throughout the year."

It was a laugh of frustration, a chuckle of disbelief, a snicker of bewilderment. He laughed, not because he thought the situation was funny, because he didn't know what else to do.

The Jazz had played a decent enough game. They struggled in transition defensively early and were beaten on the glass in the second half but were in a position to win the game. After what happened two nights ago in Boston, that's all they could really ask for in the game.

Utah had overcome a 9-point third-quarter deficit and were making plays down the stretch.

Mitchell made a falling-out-of-bounds pass to Mike Conley for an open corner 3-pointer; Rudy Gobert stayed with and blocked LaMelo Ball in isolation; and famously reluctant shooter (especially late in games) Royce O'Neale buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:32 remaining.

It was the simplest one that ended up being Utah's downfall: a missed open layup from their best offensive player. If Mitchell attempted the shot 100 times, he'd probably makes 99 of them — so he laughed. The game, as he put it, got "ripped out right under your feet on something that's really quite simple — a layup."

The Jazz have been a middling team in the clutch this season, ranking 15th in net rating in clutch situations this season. But it felt worse than that — both for the fan base and for the players. So Friday's failures at the end were only magnified.

Gobert had a bad traveling turnover with 2:01 remaining, Mitchell committed an offensive foul (and that was compounded when Quin Snyder lost the challenge of that call), and the Jazz left Terry Rozier open for three moments after they had tied the game up.

"We had a breakdown where we lost Rozier, and we missed a couple of clean looks at the rim when we made good plays," Snyder said. "We did have a couple of turnovers late — we've got to be able to get a shot. But the things we're doing to get the opportunities to get those shots, we've just got to keep going."

The thing that cost the Jazz at the end was the same thing that cost them all game: they gave up too many possessions. Utah gave up eight offensive rebounds in the third quarter alone and 16 for the game.

"I lot of them were on me," said Gobert, who had 11 points and 19 rebounds. "A lot were funky bounces, but a lot I could've got. That was the game. It gave them life. It gave them a lot more confidence to shoot again. And those shots are usually easier shots."

The Hornets had 18 second-chance points on Friday, and Snyder called the offensive boards "momentum plays." It was a bit of a back breaker to get a stop and force a miss only to have to try and do it again.

"There was a lot of good about tonight," Snyder said. "The way we moved the ball, I thought we were connected. I thought we did a good job of attacking different coverages. … We just need to not give up so many opportunities."

Utah had 25 assists on their 38 made field goals and had four players with three or more assists. It was a team that looked much better — though, admittedly, it was hard to look any worse — than it did two nights ago in Boston.

Still, it wasn't good enough.

So after missing his gimme layup, all Mitchell could do was laugh.

"I missed it. It's one of those things," he said. "... I'm not laughing because it's a joke, I'm laughing because that's the level of frustration."

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