The Utah Jazz will have leading scorer Donovan Mitchell available when they face the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 2 of their Western Conference playoff series on Wednesday night.
Mitchell was frustrated with the team over its decision to scratch the two-time All-Star hours before Game 1 on Sunday, when the team’s medical staff advised the Jazz to hold him out, but he says he’s moved on.
“I think for me, my team, I was definitely frustrated and upset that I wasn’t able to play,” said Mitchell. “I’m a competitor. I felt I was ready to go. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”
“The biggest thing for us is moving forward. We lost Game 1. So, I understand it’s your job as media and you’ll ask me questions. But I wanted it to be known that we’re moving forward as a group, as a unit.”
Mitchell continues to recover from a right ankle sprain that sidelined him for the last 16 games of the regular season. He practiced three days in a row and took part in Sunday morning’s shootaround and was not listed on the injury report Saturday or Sunday.
The rehab has created tensions between Mitchell and the team, per an ESPN report, with Mitchell opting to work with his personal training staff during the recovery.
Mitchell says he’s been working with personal trainers “in conjunction with the team” during the process.
“Honestly, I was ready to go, and the staff didn’t feel like I was ready,” said Mitchell. “That’s it. There wasn’t really more to it. There wasn’t a setback or anything. I was ready to go and compete, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case. At the end of the day, the experts said no. We can disagree on those things, but that was the frustration.”
Mitchell averaged a career-best 26.4 points per game during the regular season, adding 5.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
