Is Donovan Mitchell playing tonight against the Miami Heat? | 2021-22 NBA season
The Utah Jazz continue their Eastern Conference road trip and visit FTX Arena to take on the Miami Heat, while Donovan Mitchell's status is still up in the air. The matchup is expected to be an exciting one as one of the best offensive teams clash with one of the best defensive ones. The Utah Jazz are on a 7-1 start to the season and have re-established themselves as one of the top teams in the West.
Donovan Mitchell leads the team in scoring, assists and steals with 24.9 points, 4.9 assists and 1.4 steals a game. However, he is averaging career-low shooting splits, averaging just 41% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc.
The Jazz are just as dominant to begin the season as they were last year. They are third in the league in both offensive and defensive ratings and are second overall in net rating. Rudy Gobert is once again spearheading the team's defensive identity while Donovan Mitchell runs the offense.
What is Donovan Mitchell's status for tonight's game against the Miami Heat?
Donovan Mitchell's status has been officially upgraded to questionable for the game against the Miami Heat. He didn't play in the Utah Jazz's last game against the Atlanta Hawks but has played every other game so far.
Injury report:
OUT - Rudy Gay (right heel injury recovery)
QUESTIONABLE - Donovan Mitchell (right ankle sprain)
QUESTIONABLE - Royce O’Neale (right ankle sprain)
OUT - Udoka Azubuike (G League - On Assignment)
Donovan Mitchell rolled his ankle against the Sacramento Kings on November 2nd. He dropped 36 points in 32 minutes in that game, shooting 5-12 from downtown. Mitchell spoke about the incident after the game, saying:
"Yeah, I just rolled it and it was just like a normal thing, to roll my ankle...It’s not because of what happened last year, although it was the same foot."
He was then asked to sit out the next game against the Atlanta Hawks due to a sprained right ankle and is questionable tonight for the same reason. Coach Quin Snyder stated the Utah Jazz's decision to exercise caution with Mitchell's injury, saying:
"We’re conservative and diligent about those types of things...I think Donovan is in a good place mentally, and we will make sure that he’s in a good place physically and he’ll be back.”
When will Donovan Mitchell return?
The Utah Jazz have stated that Donovan Mitchell's injury isn't a serious one and that he will return soon enough. If Mitchell doesn't lace up for the game against the Miami Heat, we predict that he will play in the next game against the Orlando Magic. However, the team might rest him against a rebuilding Magic team and not have him play on the road. On that note, we expect his return to be at home against the Atlanta Hawks.