Following an embarrassing collapse during the first round of the NBA playoffs last season, which saw the Utah Jazz blow a 3-1 series lead to the Denver Nuggets, Jazz superstar Donovan Mitchell is focused on Utah making it out of the first round, where they have faltered the past two seasons.
“We need to hold ourselves to a high standard,” Mitchell said, according to the Deseret News’ Sarah Todd. “You know, we blew a 3-1 lead. We lost in the first round, and there’s no time for that. There’s no time for slow starts.”
Mitchell isn’t just going to talk about what the team needs to do, he is looking to work with his team on correcting the issues that he is seeing.
“You can’t be complacent when we’re up and we have to start focusing more on the details” Mitchell continued.
“There’s no day where we can kind of have that lapse. … There’s no easing our way into this. We need to come out ready to go because losing in the first round ain’t it no more.”
Time will tell if the Jazz can correct their first round issues, and with the NBA season fast approaching, Mitchell will get his opportunity to do so soon enough.
