The All-Star guard announced he was “ready to go tonight” following the Sunday morning shootaround, but hours later, a team source confirmed he would not be playing.
(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) dunks as the Jazz host the Cleveland Cavaliers in March at Vivint Arena. Mitchell won’t be playing against the Grizzlies on Sunday night after all.
Donovan Mitchell’s already confounding ankle injury got even more so Sunday, when a team source confirmed that the All-Star guard would sit out the Utah Jazz’s postseason opener Sunday night against the Memphis Grizzlies — just hours after he told media he was good to go.
After missing the team’s final 16 games of the regular season with a sprained ankle, the All-Star guard met with media just before noon Sunday, following a morning shootaround, and announced that he would be back in action for Sunday night’s postseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I’m ready to go tonight,” Mitchell said. “No pain. I’m excited to get going.”
About three and a half hours later, though, came a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski citing team sources as saying that Mitchell now was not expected to play.
The Tribune’s source confirmed that Mitchell was indeed out, but declined to provide details as to what changed, citing medical privacy laws.
Around 3:30 p.m., the team issued its official injury report, listing Mitchell as “OUT” due to a right ankle sprain.
His return had been much anticipated as the weeks dragged on following his injury on April 16, but it was also widely expected after he returned to practice this past Thursday. Still, Mitchell said that day that while he was feeling fine (aside from some fatigue) and expected to play, he would need to string together several days of practice to gauge his body’s reaction and readiness.
He added Sunday that while a bit of soreness remains in the right ankle on account of lack of use, it’s nothing unexpected.
“The biggest thing is I feel good,” Mitchell said. “Like I said the other day, the best part about it is there’s always going to be soreness when you come back from an injury like this, there is always going to be things that haven’t been activated in — what has it been, five [weeks]? But I feel good.”
Coach Quin Snyder said after Saturday’s practice that Mitchell’s fatigue and soreness are not points of concern, and that the guard’s progress is where it ought to be.
“Well, it’s not a huge stretch that you’ll be fatigued if you haven’t played in a little while,” Snyder said. “… You don’t go from zero to 100 right away, so I know there’s an acclimation period. That said, I also think that, as you’ve heard from Donovan, his approach is right where it needs to be.”
Mitchell declined to say Sunday morning whether he and the coaching staff and the Jazz’s medical personnel had constructed a minutes restriction for him, citing “game-plan purposes.”
Tipoff for Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Jazz and Grizzlies is set for 7:30 p.m. at Vivint Arena. The game will be televised by both TNT and AT&T SportsNet.
