Mitchell battling through ankle pain: I can't do what I normally would
It was a frustrating evening for Donovan Mitchell, as he shot just 6-of-19 from the field in the Utah Jazz's 119-111 Game 5 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The All-Star guard was clearly bothered by a nagging right ankle injury and knows the ailment isn't going away anytime soon.
"It's something I'm going to have to deal with," Mitchell said postgame, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "I mean, it f------ sucks. I ain't got nothing else to say. Like, it's tough when you're trying different things that you normally do and you see spots you can get to, but you can't, so you got to find a way to make it happen."
Mitchell sprained his ankle on April 16 against the Indiana Pacers and subsequently missed the Jazz's final 16 regular-season contests as well as their playoff opener. The 24-year-old downplayed the severity of the injury after tweaking his ankle in Game 3 but spoke more candidly about it following Wednesday's defeat.
"For most of my life, I've been able to push by, explode by, and jump through people or over people, and for the first time in my career, I've had to play on the floor," Mitchell said. "Knowing when to attack, picking my spots, finding my teammates, I think that's the biggest thing, being able to kind of get off, hit them when they're doubling me, and engaging the blitz."
Mitchell is shooting 34.5% from deep and just 33.3% overall and averaging 3.5 turnovers over the last two contests.
Los Angeles holds a 3-2 series lead heading into Friday's showdown at Staples Center.