James Harden went 0-for-15 before making his first field goal off a driving dunk at 7:34 in the fourth.
SALT LAKE CITY — Nearly 48 hours had passed since the Utah Jazz suffered the 20-point loss to the Houston Rockets in Game 2, and Donovan Mitchell could still recite the opening minutes pretty much verbatim.
“They just out-toughed us, just outplayed us… I think that’s all it really is, is a mindset,” Mitchell stressed following Friday’s practice session.
“You can do X’s and O’s all you want but it’s really just a mindset of how hard you want to play,” he continued.
Unlike Games 1 and 2, the Jazz’s aggression was on display from the opening tip of Game 3 at Vivint Arena on Saturday night.
Mitchell caught an alley-oop jam at 10:40 followed by an and-one corner 3-pointer off glass to score six quick points, while helping the Jazz get off to an 11-3 start. He put up 13 of his game-high 34 points, six rebounds and five assists during the first quarter but the Jazz still fell behind 3-0 in the first-round series after losing 104-101.
Jazz coach Quin Snyder adjusted the starting lineup with Jae Crowder getting the nod over Derrick Favors. After beating the Jazz by 32 and 20 points in the first two games, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni anticipated the Jazz potentially changing the game plan but said “we will adjust during the game.
