The Utah Jazz avoided the worst-case scenario with Donovan Mitchell’s ankle. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Mitchell, who suffered a pretty nasty looking ankle injury on Friday afternoon against the Indiana Pacers, had both an x-ray and an MRI come back clean and showing no signs of any major structural damage.
As a result, instead of any extended absence, Mitchell is expected to miss a few games before getting the green light to return to Utah’s lineup, per Woj.
MRI on right ankle sprain of Utah Jazz All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell revealed no structural damage, sources tell ESPN. He’s expected to miss several games before he’s cleared to return.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 17, 2021
A timetable for a return is unclear, but considering that Mitchell needed to be helped off the floor after rolling his ankle, it’s pretty good news for the Jazz that he isn’t slated to be out for a particularly long period of time. Still, the sooner his return the better for Utah, which sit 1.5 games up on the Phoenix Suns for the 1-seed in the Western Conference — the two teams are slated to play on April 30 in Phoenix, but the Jazz will play six games between now and then.
Mitchell, who made his second All-Star team this year, is in the midst of a career season, leading the team with 26.4 points per game. Wojnarowski pointed out that Mitchell has taken his scoring to another level since the All-Star break, putting up numbers the Jazz have not seen since Karl Malone’s time with the franchise.
