LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 18, 2021

Donovan Mitchell

Jazz Postgame Press Conference

Clippers- 131, Jazz - 119

Q. Looking at the way things progressed through the second half, what was really kind of the point where it unraveled and where things just weren't going your way? What was really, from your perspective, the reasons behind it?

DONOVAN MITCHELL: First off, I want to start this press conference off by saying salute to Terance Mann. I've played against Terance since, like, middle school. He's always been a dog and a warrior. He played his ass off. He got inserted into the lineup and he's been hooping ever since.

And he's good. He's really good. And tonight he showed it on the biggest stage. And (indiscernible) want to give props, give him his respect. And that's how I wanted to start off there.

As far as the game, we just turned the ball over a lot. We didn't execute defensively. We didn't get back. And let their guys do whatever they want. We were up 22 points. There was a point we kind of acted, like, I wouldn't say intentionally, but I wouldn't say it was like the intention (indiscernible), we were in the huddle communicating. We were fighting. But we just made certain mistakes we didn't make to be up 22.

And Terance, I don't think any of us expected Terance to go off the way he did. So that was a little bit of a punch and we weren't ready for it and that can't happen. But I ain't got much else for you.

Q. What do you think the biggest reason is that you lost this series?

DONOVAN MITCHELL: I mean, like, Mike Conley, I think, is a Hall of Famer. Not having him is tough. You saw his impact on the Memphis series.

But with that being said, we did go up 2-0, and I think there were certain things they adjusted that we were ready for but weren't ready for. And I think for us it's just -- we just didn't do a lot of things the same way we did in Game 2. They made adjustments, and we had adjustments ready but we didn't necessarily execute it as a group.

And I think when you have a team that's battle tested -- Kawhi, even know he got hurt, Paul, Batum, Beverley Jackson, Rondo -- they got a lot of guys who are battle tested and seen it.

Then you've got the coaching staff, which is pretty good too. They made adjustments. We made great adjustments, too, as a coaching staff, as a team. But as a team we didn't execute it on the floor. That's on us. Nobody else but the guys on the floor. We were in position to win a lot of these games, I felt like, and we just didn't.

Q. With about a minute left, you turned your ankle again. You were down on the floor and slammed your hands on the floor. Just at that point, the game was getting out of hand. Could you tell me about your level of frustration, being in pain?

DONOVAN MITCHELL: I don't know, it hurt. And it was just a lot going on. It was slipping away, that's about all I can say. Just tried to fight. That's it, really. We all did. But I give them credit.

Q. Where were you at physically to begin the game? Like how close to normal would you say you were at? Obviously you were trying to maybe ease through your pregame warm-up based on what we've seen before, and then you go out and have that kind of crazy 16-point first quarter. How were you feeling?

DONOVAN MITCHELL: Not great. But, I mean, it is what it is. It's not -- I'm not going to sit here and say, oh, I was hurt. That's not me. You know what I mean? Whatever. Just trying to find a way by any means necessary. That was the mindset.

Mike went out there, battled his butt off. We all did. But sometimes you have just to have the mental fortitude to understand that we didn't want to go home. Nobody was ready for this -- I'm still not ready mentally for this to be over. We worked so damn hard for us to be here. And for it to happen like this for me, for all of us, it's devastating.

Yeah, we try and fight through things and we try to continue to battle and battle and fight. I don't know. I told you it's tough. They're a talented team. They did a lot of different things and it was tough. It was just tough.

Q. What is it like for you for like the next week or so, what do you remember from last year, how you're going to feel, when do you start to kind of come out of it?

DONOVAN MITCHELL: It hasn't fully sunk in for me yet. I'm still in shock. This summer is going to look a little different because obviously I'm hurt. So definitely trying to rehab first so I'm ready for next season. I don't know. I don't know what I'll be doing next week. I'll probably be sitting here mad as hell watching the games and doing whatever.

But this hurts more than last year because we were up again and lost again. And this is going to eat at me for a long time watching the Clippers and the Suns playing in the conference finals, even watching the finals. We had an incredible regular season; made so many pushes and we continued to fight. But, man, like this is going to eat at me. Even when I go to the grocery store I'm going to be thinking about this. You know what I mean? This is, wow, I don't know if that puts it in perspective.