Mitchell’s 0.8 PPP from 3-10 feet is the equivalent of someone shooting 4 threes per game at 26.7%. You would leave that guy open all night long.

Donovan shoots 40.2% from 3-10 feet on the season on about 4 attempts per game from that range. That’s 0.804 points per possession for an offense that averages like 1.2 PPP. The Jazz have 6 players taking 4 or more 3PA/game and shooting 42% or better–Mitchell is 42.7% from deep on 8.6 attempts/game and the other 5 all shoot above 45%. THOSE are the shots you want to stop them from taking. Donovan can put up as many runners as he likes.

So if you’re asking “how do you stop that?”, you’re asking the wrong question. A heavy diet of Mitchell floaters stops itself. That’s why Utah, which averages 57.8 points per half, scored 46 points in the first half going against a middle-of-the-pack defense missing 3 starters and playing Reggie Jackson and Lou Williams on the wing. The question is “how do we get him to keep taking them?” Because in the second half, when he had more disciplined offensive decision-making, the Jazz concentrated their shot distribution at the rim and from deep, they hung 68 points on LAC and pulled ahead by 20.

Much like the first game vs Cleveland, the “we got KILLED on floaters” takes totally miss on the fact that Sexton was 5-14 on floaters and pull-ups and the Clippers held the Cavs to 99 points. Granted, the Cavs stink offensively, but any time you hold an NBA team under 100 in 2021 it’s a major win for your defense (LAC has only done it 4 times in 30 games). While Mitchell was getting his “easy as pie UNCONTESTED 8 footers”, the Jazz (an actually elite offense) were putting up 46 points in the half. I’m not sure how anyone watches that game and thinks the first half defense, of all things, was what they found demoralizing.