Mitchell stars again as Jazz rebound from mid-game blown lead to beat Clippers
Bucks outlast Nets in Game 3 slog to claw back into series
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points and the Utah Jazz forced nine straight misses down the stretch to outlast the Los Angeles Clippers 117-111 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
The guard is the first Jazz player with at least 35 points in back-to-back playoff games since Karl Malone in 1988.
Jordan Clarkson scored 24, including six 3-pointers, while Joe Ingles had 19 points and Rudy Gobert contributed 13 points and a career playoff-high 20 rebounds.
Reggie Jackson led the Clippers with 29 points and George had 27. Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points but managed just two in the fourth quarter.
The series shifts to Los Angeles on Saturday for Game 3.
👏 <a href="https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@spidadmitchell</a> follows up his 45-point Game 1 with a 37-point encore in Game 2, putting the <a href="https://twitter.com/utahjazz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@utahjazz</a> up 2-0! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThatsGame?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ThatsGame</a> <br><br>Game 3 - Sat, 8:30 PM ET, ABC <a href="https://t.co/aXBNjht5K8">pic.twitter.com/aXBNjht5K8</a>
—@NBAOnce the Clippers took their only lead at 101-99 after consecutive 3-pointers by Jackson, the Jazz forced nine consecutive misses to power a 14-2 run that was capped by Ingles' 3-pointer to make it 113-103 with 3:07 to play.
In the second half, the Clippers mixed multiple coverages and cut off the passing lanes that usually garner the Jazz clean 3-point looks and Jackson got hot.
Mitchell shot 11 of 16 in the first half and did the same in the second half of Game 1. He tallied 59 points on 22-of-32 shooting over those four quarters.
The demonstrative Mitchell has said he wants to conserve energy with the exceptional physical demands of the playoffs, but he couldn't help showing emotion one some of his spectacular finishes.
Mike Conley missed his second game after injuring his hamstring late in the Utah-Memphis series finale but the Jazz have now won six straight playoff games.
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Bucks survive against Nets
Jrue Holiday made a go-ahead driving layup with 11.4 seconds left and the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Brooklyn Nets 86-83 on Thursday night in Game 3 after two blowout losses in New York.
Game 4 of the second-round series is Sunday in Milwaukee.
Khris Middleton scored 35 points, and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 33 for the Bucks. They won after blowing a 21-point lead.
Holiday scored just nine points and shot 4 of 14 but made the biggest basket of the night.
Brooklyn led 83-82 when Bruce Brown missed a jumper with just over 20 seconds left. Antetokounmpo got the rebound, the Bucks worked the ball upcourt and Holiday drove to the basket to put Milwaukee ahead for good 84-83.
After Brown missed his own driving layup attempt with just over 6 seconds left, Middleton got the rebound. Middleton made a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.
The Bucks started out intent on turning Game 3 into a complete reversal of Game 2, which they lost 125-86 as the Nets recorded their most lopsided playoff victory in franchise history.
Milwaukee grabbed a 30-9 lead in the first 10 1/2 minutes but then got outscored 22-3 during a stretch that lasted nearly 9 1/2 minutes as the Nets clawed their way back into the game.
Neither team ever led by more than five points in a second half that had emotions high on both sides.
After P.J. Tucker got called for fouling Durant in the third quarter, Tucker started complaining about the call. That led to Tucker and Durant jawing at each other as they got face to face, with officials calling a double technical on the two players.
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