SALT LAKE CITY -- It was after the Oklahoma City Thunder's win over the Utah Jazz on Dec. 23. Donovan Mitchell had scored 29 points in a 113-89 loss, the last of four meetings with the Thunder, all coming before Christmas. Mitchell was in the early stages of impressing everyone around the league but had certainly caught the attention of the Thunder's star trio.
One by one, Russell Westbrook first, then Paul George, then Carmelo Anthony pulled Mitchell aside after the game and talked to him. Westbrook spent the most time with Mitchell, leaning in close to his ear as the rookie nodded along. Westbrook finished with a pat on the head.
"He just said, 'Don't stop,' " Mitchell said after the game. "Can't really tell you everything else, but just, 'Don't stop and keep going.' Westbrook doesn't really talk to guys after games, so that was pretty cool."
It was a bit of an out-of-character moment for Westbrook, who doesn't often go through the postgame dapping with opponents. But there was something about Mitchell he saw, and respected.
"You guys are watching something here that could be very special," Anthony said after the game.
Flash-forward four months, and it was Mitchell slamming the door on the Thunder's season with 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting in a closeout 96-91 Game 6 victory. In a fire-balling third quarter, Mitchell dropped 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including eight straight makes and three 3-pointers. And of course, on the other side was Westbrook, dropping 20 on 7-of-14 shooting, featuring four 3s. It was an offensive duel in every sense, with the two trading buckets as Mitchell tried to extend a lead, and Westbrook scrapped to keep OKC in it.
"Man, I don't think words can really describe it," Mitchell said. "They're a great team. They play with heart, they play with passion. But the way we played together, we weathered the storm when they came out hot early and we stuck together and that's been our motto all year. To beat a team like that says a lot. For me personally, beating a guy I looked up to and kind of modeled my game after, it's pretty special."
Mitchell's third quarter felt something like an arrival, but it's not as if he has just burst onto the scene or anything. At least not to anyone paying attention. He has been spectacular throughout the season, evoking comparisons to a young Dwyane Wade with a better jumper (be very afraid, NBA), but the postseason was going to be a new exam. His Rookie of the Year campaign hinged around the idea that he was only a rookie in name and not game, playing with the look and feel of an eight-year veteran.
But against Westbrook, George and the numerous bodies the Thunder threw at him, Mitchell passed with flying colors. He was dynamic in Game 2, carrying the Jazz to a road win to even the series. He had a "quiet" 22 in Game 3, then 33 in Game 4. For the series, his first playoff experience, he averaged 28.5 points on 46.2 percent shooting.
It all came together in a virtuoso third quarter, the kind of foundational moment that felt as if it graduated Mitchell from a budding superstar, to in the class alongside Westbrook, George and others. With Ricky Rubio out because of a hamstring injury, Mitchell commandeered the Jazz offense, shouldering both the scoring and creating responsibilities. Mitchell has played some point guard throughout the season, and is already a savvy passer and steady ball handler, but the pressure was on to perform without the team's floor general.
He responded by burying a flurry of 3s, while mixing in impossible, contorting finishes around the rim. It was a mix of the downhill power of Westbrook, with the creativity of Kyrie Irving.
"To be honest with you, Coach Quin [Snyder] called that," Mitchell said of his third-quarter eruption. "The whole thing. You know the first half, I was kind of hesitant, didn't really. Kind of nervous to be honest with you. He came up to me after one of the times outs before the half ended and he said, 'We're going to win this game, and you're going to go off.' Word for word, that's what he said. When you have a coach telling you that, your mindset's like, 'You know what, there's no need to be nervous' and from that point on."
Fittingly, it came down to two pressure-packed free throws for Mitchell to seal it. He knocked them both down. He sat up at postgame news conference, in the middle of Joe Ingles, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors, a smile beaming across his face. Ingles was asked about the early scout on the Jazz's next opponent, the 65-win Rockets, and gave the standard, "Well, we'll obviously enjoy this one tonight --"
"It's tomorrow already," Mitchell interrupted. "It's 12 a.m."
"There's the immaturity coming out," Ingles said.
If that's what it was, it was the only sign of it all series. Because if anything, like Mitchell this season, it just sounds as if he's ready.