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- The Jazz were blown out by the Mavericks 102-77 on Monday night
- Utah star Donovan Mitchell went down with a late injury, causing fans to question why he was still in the game
- Read more NBA news here
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The Mavericks landed a decisive win in NBA playoff action to take a 3-2 series lead over the Utah Jazz.
Dallas star Luka Doncic tallied 33 points while guard Jalen Brunson added another 24. The Mavs never trailed in the dominant performance, taking a 26-point lead into the game’s final quarter.
That’s when things went from bad to worse for Utah.
Not only did the team suffer an embarrassing loss to fall one game closer to elimination, but the Jazz also saw star player Donovan Mitchell leave the contest with a late injury. He was removed from the game with less than five minutes of action remaining.
It begs the question, why was Mitchell in the game at all?
He’s easily the team’s best player and the most dynamic scorer. While he had a rough night shooting the basketball on Monday, Utah likely needs him to play in order to avoid having their season end in Game 6.
At the time of his exit, Dallas was leading the game by nearly 30 points.
Fans are now giving the Jazz coaching staff some heat for keeping Mitchell in during a blowout loss.
Fans Crush Jazz For Leaving Donovan Mitchell On The Floor
With Donovan Mitchell going down with an injury, fans are going after the Jazz on social media. The loss of their best player could compromise the remainder of the season if he’s unable to go at 100% in Game 6.
Check out the reaction below.
Jazz down 28 with 4:41 left and Donovan Mitchell not only on the floor for some reason but now headed to the locker room with what appears to be a leg injury.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 26, 2022
Donovan Mitchell has gone to the Jazz locker room in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury.
They were down by 30… 😔 https://t.co/g6goQH6Ky1
— Covers (@Covers) April 26, 2022
Donovan Mitchell was still playing in the 4th quarter while his team was down 30
He just limped off the court with an apparent hamstring injury pic.twitter.com/sGZdtKi87z
— Fanatics Sportsbook | PB (@fanaticsbook_pb) April 26, 2022
Donovan Mitchell just limped off the floor rubbing his left leg. Jazz down 28.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 26, 2022
With the season on the line, Mitchell has said he’s going to give it a go on Thursday. When asked if there were any concerns about Game 6, the guard responded, “I’ll be fine.”
Donovan Mitchell said his hamstring tightened up and he had to come out. Concern about Game 6? “I’ll be fine,” he said.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 26, 2022
Hopefully he’s playing at full speed because the Jazz will need him if they want to come back from this 3-2 deficit.