Donovan Mitchell has always chosen to let his play speak for itself.
When asked questions regarding his "star" status in the league, Mitchell always responds humbly — even though his coaches and teammates give honest answers rather than humble ones.
Mitchell didn't need anyone to speak for him on Wednesday night.
Amidst the best shooting stretch of his career, Mitchell finished with 36 points as Utah took down Minnesota 136-104 for its fifth consecutive win.
"I think he's had a good mix," head coach Quin Snyder said of Mitchell. "When you know you can get to the rim like that, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. … When you're scoring like that, you can impact the game that way."
Here are five things you need to know following the win:
1.) Why Do Players Still Question Rudy GobertThere's a reason they play 48 minutes in an NBA game — and Rudy Gobert made sure Minnesota knew that.
After being called out by Timberwolves starting point guard Patrick Beverley at the half (words Gobert probably never heard), the reigning defensive player of the year more than made his presence felt on the court in the second half.
In 31 minutes of action, the Jazz outscored Minnesota by 25 points with Gobert on the court. He finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season. His defense at the rim was instrumental in limiting Minnesota to 40% shooting from the field, one of their worst performances of the season.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota's super sophomore, had some interesting words about Gobert postgame as well.
"Anytime I go against (Kristaps) Porzingis, I don't get no layups. I don't get why we couldn't finish on Rudy Gobert. He don't put no fear in my heart. … I don't know why," Edwards said postgame.
It makes no sense why teams are still calling out Gobert and his defensive skillset. Widely regarded as one of the best defensive big men of all time, Gobert is playing at an even higher level this year, and it's shown in multiple ways.
"He was dominant. … He's such a presence defensively," Snyder said of Gobert last Sunday after Gobert finished with 20 rebounds and five blocks against Cleveland, the only player in the NBA to put up that stat line this season.
While Utah generally doesn't care what others say about them, you can be sure that the rematch on New Year's Eve at Vivint Arena will be a game the Jazz — and Gobert — are keeping an eye on.
2.) Donovan Mitchell Needs No Extra Motivation — But It Never HurtsDonovan Mitchell has had numerous 'WOW' moments throughout his first four years in the league. From game-winning shots to thunderous dunks and clutch postseason moments, there's no doubt that he's emerged as one of the premier players in the NBA.
But what Mitchell has done over the past four games is something he's never done in his career before. Mitchell has scored 30+ points in the past four games, averaging 33.8 points and 4.8 assists on shooting splits of 58/43/94.
While his outside shooting continues to evolve and get better, Mitchell has arguably the best euro-step in the league. His ability to navigate his way inside the paint amongst bigger defenders and finish is unprecedented.
"He's just being aggressive," Bojan Bogdanovic said of Mitchell. "A couple shots go in, and he's full of confidence. This is who he is, he's been playing at a high level the whole year."
Mitchell admitted postgame that there was extra motivation to his hot start — 17 first quarter points.
"We got swept. … It's no secret," Mitchell said of last season's performance against the Timberwolves. "I think we all kinda felt that we all were like, 'at the end of the day, getting swept is not fun.' We have a lot of pride in this team. … We took that personal."
3.) Jazz Go Small With Great ResultsUtah knows that there will be times this season when the best lineup on the court will be small ones with Gobert and Hassan Whiteside on the bench.
With Whiteside missing the last two games (left adductor strain), Snyder knew that he would play small against the Timberwolves. But one thing he couldn't have expected was Gobert getting into foul trouble, forcing the Jazz to go small for a majority of the second half.
It turns out that wasn't a problem for Utah.
After Gobert picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, the Jazz outscored Minnesota by 32 points the rest of the way. While Gobert returned later in the game and still made his presence felt, the lineup featuring Rudy Gay at the center position was special.
The Jazz elected to go five-out on offense and space the floor. With all five players capable of knocking down three-pointers and Utah sharing the ball at a high rate, there was nothing Minnesota's top-10 defense could do.
But defensively is where the Jazz impressed the most.
With Bogdanovic and Royce O'Neale picking up the task of defending Timberwolves all-star center Karl-Anthony Towns, the 6-foot-9 Gay provided help-side defense and cleaned up the rebounds, also getting help from Utah's guards.
"The biggest thing is that we force a miss and then to be able to collect those rebounds," Snyder said. "Particularly when we are smaller and getting our guards really involved in the boards. … When we do that, that fuels transition. We can go on some spurts, go on some runs, and that can happen."
Going small may have been considered an issue last season, but it appears that's now a problem of the past following Wednesday night's performance.
4.) New NBA Records Set With Utah's Hot ShootingThere's no question that the way the game is played in the NBA has changed dramatically. Instead of being a slow-it-down, ground-and-pound type of style, the league has morphed into a high-octane, three-point shooting conundrum.
With that being said, there have been some incredible three-point shooting teams that have come from this change — most notably Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors, and Mike D'Antonio's Houston rockets.
But the Jazz are rarely talked about amongst the most elite three-point shooting teams of all time.
That won't be a problem anymore.
On Wednesday, the Jazz set two NBA records against Minnesota, forever etching their name in the league record books.
Utah's 72 three-pointers are the most in a three-game span, breaking the old record of 67 set by Milwaukee and Houston (twice). The Jazz also became the first team in NBA history to have three consecutive games with 20 or more made three-pointers.
5.) Next Two Games Are Big OnesAfter a heart-breaking loss nearly two weeks ago against New Orleans, the Jazz have looked like a completely different team following five consecutive victories.
The offense has been unstoppable, averaging nearly 128 points per game while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc in four of five games. The defense has been just as impressive, limiting teams to 110 points per game and holding them to 45.4% shooting from the floor and 33.5% from three-point territory.
Utah will need similar performances as the competition ramps up significantly, with Philadelphia and Washington up next.
The game against the 76ers comes on the backend of a back-to-back tomorrow, with the Jazz expected to arrive in Philadelphia around 3 a.m. Thursday morning. After a slow start to the season, the 76ers are the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference and on a three-game winning streak.
Then two nights later and again on the road, Utah takes on Bradley Beal and the Wizards, one of the most surprising teams of the season thus far. Washington is 8-3 at home on the year and the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.
It's going to be a brutal end to the four-game road trip for the Jazz, especially when taking on an uber-physical Embiid on Thursday and then a well-rested (three days) Wizards squad on Saturday.
"We're going to have screw-ups, we're going to have situations where things don't go our way, or we make stupid mistakes," Mitchell said. "But it's how do we respond, how do we react when that happens. Body language, energy, focus, all that. … I think we responded the right way."