Donovan Mitchell's return to Salt Lake City was supposed to be the story on Tuesday night when the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Utah Jazz, and it was on pace to be until Jordan Clarkson stole the show with some last-minute magic to help the Jazz steal a 115-109 victory.
Playing in Utah for the first time since he was sent to Cleveland in a blockbuster trade last summer, Mitchell finished with 46 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals for his second-highest scoring effort of the season. His personal 10-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter, which helped the Cavs go from behind to up by seven, seemed like it would be the difference and cap a perfect homecoming.
The @utahjazz crowd welcomes back Donovan Mitchell! pic.twitter.com/NFs688Hxd9
— NBA (@NBA) January 11, 2023
Heading into the final few minutes, the Mitchell stories were already being written when Clarkson decided to play spoiler. One of the league's pre-eminent heat check artists, he ripped off his own 9-0 run in the span of 42 seconds to give the Jazz the lead for good with 40.9 seconds remaining.
The highlight was the rarely-seen seven-point possession, which Clarkson made even more impressive by doing solo. First, he drained a step-back 3-pointer over Caris LeVert and was fouled on the play. The refs went to the monitor and upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 1. (Quick tangent: it will never make sense how a defender can get called for a reckless closeout on a 3-point shot when they close out with their feet inside the 3-point line. Where are they supposed to go?) Back to the game, the Jazz got possession after Clarkson's free throw. He made the free throw, and then immediately drew another shooting foul on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws.
"Obviously, JC was massive for us in the second half," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. "I think we had a seven-point play at one point, which is exactly what I told him to do. He made some big plays."
Clarkson scored 15 of his team-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, and added six rebounds and four assists in one of his best performances of the season. Just like his team, Clarkson has been a nice surprise; through 43 games, he's averaging a career-high 20.7 points and 4.5 assists.
