SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell turned a rough start into a fantastic finish.
Mitchell dominated in the fourth quarter, rallying the Utah Jazz to a 107-91 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 4 of their Western Conference series on Monday night.
Mitchell scored 19 of his 31 points in the final quarter to help the Jazz pull away for their first win in the series.
Utah staved off elimination and forced a Game 5 on Wednesday.
Mitchell’s late-game performance helped the second-year guard make up for struggles earlier. He turned the ball over twice in the first two minutes and shot just 36 percent from the field in the first three quarters before going 6 of 12 in the fourth.
Mitchell never lost confidence that he could turn it around.
“My teammates have had my back with every mistake, everything I’ve done well,” Mitchell said. “When you have that support system in the locker room every day, it makes it easier when you start the game with two straight turnovers.”
Jae Crowder scored 23 points. Ricky Rubio chipped in 18 points and 11 assists and Derrick Favors finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
James Harden scored 30 points to lead Houston. Chris Paul added 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Eric Gordon chipped in 16 points.
Utah’s offense got a major boost from Crowder and Rubio in the first quarter. The duo combined for 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the period to help the Jazz carve out a double-digit lead.
Then the Jazz opened the fourth quarter with a 15-1 run and outscored the Rockets 31-12 during the period.
“Of course, we wanted to end it tonight,” Harden said. “We had plenty of opportunities. They made some plays in that fourth quarter and we didn’t.”
Mitchell scored 13 points in three minutes to fuel the run after totaling just 12 points in the first three quarters. He capped off the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving the Jazz a 91-80 lead with 9:02 remaining.
Mitchell provided his biggest highlight later in the quarter when he threw down an incredible alley-oop dunk after catching an errant pass from Royce O’Neale.
“We’ve had our backs against the wall plenty of times the past two years we’ve been together as a team,” Mitchell said. “This is familiar ground with us. Everybody responded the way we expect them to, but the biggest thing for us is take what we did today and multiply it.”
Crowder got things going by scoring five of Utah’s first six baskets. Rubio built on the momentum by fueling a 14-1 run with four baskets and a pair of free throws. It helped the Jazz build a 30-16 lead with 3:03 left in the quarter.
“Both of them attacked,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “Jae got downhill and attacked the rim. Ricky did the same thing.”
Houston had three straight turnovers to open the door for Utah to seize a double-digit lead. The Jazz scored 10 points off six Rockets turnovers in the quarter.
“We did things that are uncharacteristic of a team that wants to win,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
An 8-0 run, capped by Austin Rivers’ dunk off a steal by Paul, helped Houston trim the deficit to 30-24 before quarter’s end.
The Rockets continued to cut into the lead during the second quarter, but could not overtake Utah until the third. Houston opened the quarter on a 10-2 run, sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Gordon. Harden capped it off with three free throws to give the Rockets a 57-55 lead.
Houston led for much of the third quarter after going 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the quarter. The Rockets never built more than a five-point advantage, however, before Mitchell’s fourth quarter performance.
“I felt like they’d thrown their haymaker, trying to knock us out,” Crowder said. “We stood tall and took those punches and came out ready to play in the fourth quarter. “
BUCKS 127, PISTONS 104
DETROIT — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat Detroit, completing a four-game sweep of the Pistons and advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Milwaukee closed the third quarter with a 17-3 run, taking a 10-point lead into the fourth after the Pistons had led much of the way. Detroit set an NBA record with its 14th consecutive playoff loss, a skid that began in 2008.
The Bucks will face Boston in the second round. The Celtics are coming off a sweep of their own against Indiana.
Reggie Jackson scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for Detroit. Blake Griffin fouled out with 7:06 remaining after scoring 22. The home fans gave him a nice ovation — then many headed for the exits.
