‘They go crazy’: Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell hails Kings’ crowd, physicality, Davion Mitchell
Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell left the floor with a look of exasperation after escaping with a 110-101 victory over the Kings on Friday night at Golden 1 Center.
Mitchell, a two-time All-Star who has been to the Western Conference semifinals twice in his four playoff appearances, had high praise for the Kings, hailing their crowd, their newfound physicality and the rookie defensive stopper who is terrorizing opposing ballhandlers.
“This might go down as one of, I wouldn’t say one of our best (wins), but one of our biggest because of the perseverance,” Mitchell said. “It’s a home opener for the Kings crowd and I give them credit. They go crazy for the Kings. It’s a playoff atmosphere.”
Utah posted the best record in the NBA last season. The Jazz went 3-0 against the Kings, winning by an average of 29 points per game. That included a 154-105 drubbing in Sacramento, but Mitchell says the Kings seem to have changed.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said the Kings “did an excellent job,” pointing to their physicality and the way they pressured the ball. Mitchell agreed.
“They were physical,” Mitchell said. “They were running. They were doing so many different things. In my five years, this is probably the most physical, I would say, that they’ve been as far as kind of hitting and doing those things, and they did a really good job of it. They beat Portland in the same fashion. That’s going to be their identity.”
Sacramento (1-1) went on the road to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-121 in Wednesday’s season opener before fading in the fourth quarter against Utah. The Kings will face another top playoff contender and a new set of stars — most notably Stephen Curry — when they play host to the Golden State Warriors (2-0) on Sunday.
The Warriors will present a different kind of challenge for Sacramento, but Donovan Mitchell said the addition of Davion Mitchell, a rookie first-round draft pick from Baylor, has changed the way the Kings play defense.
Kings guards De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton have said Davion Mitchell is already one of the best on-ball defenders in the league. Teammate Buddy Hield weighed in on that subject following Friday’s game.
“I think he’s the best on-ball defender in the league,” Hield said. “The way he hawks the ball is different. His lateral movement. The way he closes out is different. It’s just a special gift he has, a special knack he has. He’s always on time. He’s aggressive and I think he sets the tone for this team.”
During the preseason, Kings coach Luke Walton tasked his 6-foot-2, 205-pound guard with guarding the likes of Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo and LeBron James. In two regular season games, Davion Mitchell has spent extensive time on Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson.
Lillard had 20 points on 8-of-24 shooting from the field and 0-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Donovan Mitchell had 27 points on 9-of-25 shooting with five turnovers. Clarkson was held to 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
“It really starts with Davion on the defensive end,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I think it’s one of those things where, you know, first off, he is as advertised. He’s physical. He’s quick. He does a lot of solid things defensively that disrupted not only myself, but a lot of us. He set the tone defensively. He got the crowd involved. Everybody calls him ‘Off Night’ and they feed off of that.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
