Kia Rookie of the Year candidate and star Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell injured his left pinky toe in the second half during his playoff debut for the Utah Jazz. After going through an MRI, the team revealed Mitchell has a contusion on his left foot and his status for Wednesday’s Game 2 remains unknown.
Via Twitter, here’s more from the Jazz on Mitchell’s injury:
Donovan Mitchell’s MRI revealed a left foot contusion. His status for Wednesday’s game will be determined tomorrow.
Speaking with reporters before Monday’s practice, Mitchell said his status for Game 2 (8 ET, NBA TV) will hinge on how he feels tomorrow.
“I feel pretty good, but we’ll just see how I feel tomorrow,” Mitchell said. “I think tomorrow will be the deciding factor for how I feel. But I feel fine right now.”
Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell says he’ll see how he feels tomorrow with the left foot contusion and that will determine his status for Game 2. pic.twitter.com/JTvXUiXZUh
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 16, 2018
After suffering the injury in Game 1, it appeared Mitchell would be OK to play in Game 2. ESPN’s Royce Young and Chris Haynes reported Monday morning that the MRI on the toe came back negative — as did X-rays Mitchell had on the injury on Sunday:
Utah Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell will play in Game 2 on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder after an MRI on his left foot came back negative, league sources told ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
Mitchell left Sunday’s Game 1 in the fourth quarter to get an X-ray on the foot before returning and playing through some apparent pain in the Jazz’s 116-108 loss.
“I just stubbed my toe,” Mitchell said. “Nothing major.”
…
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said all signs point to Mitchell being ready for Game 2 on Wednesday.
“The doctors cleared him, so I put him back in the game, but when I saw him, it looked to me that he was feeling it a little bit and just wanted to make sure, so I took him out and just confirmed it,” Snyder said. “And then he went back. Everything that we know right now, he’s fine. I’m sure he’ll undergo further imaging, and we’ll update that tomorrow.”
However, based on word from the Jazz themselves, it appears Mitchell will be a game-time decision for Game 2.
The rookie returned in the fourth quarter but was noticeably hobbling, yet he finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds in Utah’s 116-108 Game 1 loss. Mitchell became the first rookie since to finish with 25-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a playoff debut on the road since Tim Duncan in 1998 (32 points, 10 rebounds vs. Suns on April 23, 1998).
