Before the season started, the Utah Jazz were considered a lock to finish top four in the Western Conference, and many prognosticators even thought they could surpass the Rockets and finish second. Theoretically, Utah seemed likely to rip out of the gates because of continuity, some internal improvement from their…

Donovan Mitchell had still been kneading the sleep out of his eyes during the first week of his sophomore season. Coming into last night’s game against the Rockets, he’d been unable to get any offense going—not from any region of the court, not off-the-dribble, not catch-and-shoot, not getting to the free throw line.…

The fact that Boris Diaw was still out there somewhere in this large world playing basketball in public, even if I wasn’t around to look at it, lit a happy little flame in my brain. If I was in a good mood at any given time, it could be attributed in some barely measurable way to that fact. Yesterday it was…

The dreaded Grayson Allen started Thursday night’s Hawks-Jazz Summer League tilt in Salt Lake City. You will be very glad to know that he’s shooting poorly and struggling to score (two points on 1-of-10 shooting through three quarters, but a tidy eight assists to zero turnovers). You will not be surprised, and I mean …

A lesson for everyone, taught to this basketball child by Rudy Gobert: Do not, under any circumstances, bring that weak shit, or it will be obliterated.

Donovan Mitchell spent his first-ever playoff series incinerating both his defenders and every reasonable expectation for even the most precocious rookie. In pouring in 28.5 ppg on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent from three, Mitchell managed serious volume without loss of efficiency. The Thunder were…

With Ricky Rubio out, Utah’s long, long specimen Dante Exum was stuck with one of the most frustrating defensive assignments in basketball: James Harden and the 1,001 dribbles. The stringy Australian has spent just over half of his NBA career injured, but in those healthy stretches has shown serious defensive acumen,…

Ricky Rubio, who looks like the very happiest bearded child in that damn photo up there, will reportedly not be available for Game 1 of Jazz-Rockets, to be played Sunday afternoon in Houston. The hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the final game of Utah’s series-clinching win over OKC will apparently need…

The Utah Jazz dispatched the Oklahoma City Thunder Friday night, closing out the first round series with a narrow and vaguely controversial victory on Utah’s home floor behind more stout defense and just enough shot-making from their various role-players. Donovan Mitchell was fantastic, dropping in 38 points on 26…

Once the Thunder were down 3-1, the Russell Westbrook obituaries had already begun to roll in; down 25, the eulogizers had probably started dipping their quills back in purple. What we’d already heard many times over was going to be repeated once again, at blaring, self-satisfied volume: You can’t win with Russell…

The Thunder weren’t supposed to get this one. Down 3-1 in their first-round series against the Jazz, and down by as many as 25 points as late as the middle of the third quarter tonight, this elimination game felt pretty damn close to a foregone conclusion. Until it felt like something else—a ridiculous comeback,…

If you want a tangible explanation for why the Oklahoma City Thunder are down 3-1 in their playoff series against the Jazz and seem destined for a first-round exit, take your pick: Rudy Gobert has effectively canceled out Russell Westbrook’s ability to drive to the hoop; Russell Westbrook has no jumper; it’s been six…

It can be a little disorienting to remind yourself that grim and gritty Ricky Rubio, the veteran point guard of the Utah Jazz, has played exactly the same number of playoff games over the course of his NBA career as Donovan Mitchell has. Rubio, whose transformation from doe-eyed, baby-faced sidekick to leathery,…

To refresh your memory, Steven Adams rammed in an alley-oop in Game 1 of the Thunder’s playoff series against the Jazz that made a satisfying thunk, but also rendered his right arm unusable. It just sort of hung there for awhile.

After bruising his foot in Game 1, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell insisted that he’d suit up for Game 2, despite having to play through a personally unprecedented amount of pain to do so. He didn’t seem very limited in his second-ever playoff game when he got a steal and scored on the first possession of the game, then…

The Thunder won the first game in their series against the Jazz on Sunday, thanks in large part to the dominance of Paul George. But if you’re looking for someone in Utah with the ability to rise to George and Russell Westbrook’s level and keep this series competitive, look no further than rookie guard Donovan…

Tonight, anyone watching the NBA will get to see the closest possible regular-season equivalent of a play-in game when the Denver Nuggets travel to Minnesota to play the T-Wolves for the last playoff spot. Both clubs are 46-35, and Minnesota leads the season series 2-1, though a 100-96 win last week kept the Nuggets’…

Red alert: The sniping between Philly’s Ben Simmons and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell over who should be the NBA Rookie of the Year has reached “Custom Hoodie” status.

The Jazz and Warriors are playing out a pretty goofy end-of-season game in which Golden State is very much not going at 100 percent and Utah is taking advantage. No moment has been sillier, though, than Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell making reigning defensive player of the year Draymond Green look utterly broken, with a…