The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 112-109 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Tuesday. You could argue that Utah outlasted the Clippers, which is sort of what Donovan Mitchell’s objective was.
TNT aired the game on TV and shared video of what Mitchell said to his team prior to the fourth quarter.
“They played Game 7 two days ago. It’s all how we start this quarter. They’ll call it quits and get ready for Game 2 if we make them,” Mitchell said.
The Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday in Game 7 to win their first-round series. Two days later, they were in Utah for Game 1 of their next series. But they didn’t quit against the Jazz.
The game was tied at the start of the fourth quarter. The Jazz started to pull away with around six minutes left and led by 10. They eventually hung on for a three-point win.
Mitchell made several big baskets and free throws down the stretch and finished with 45 points in the win.
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