Jazz's Mitchell on 31-point, 0-assist game: 'That's not who I am'

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points for the Utah Jazz against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center -- but to say he was less than pleased

Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points for the Utah Jazz against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center -- but to say he was less than pleased would be an understatement.

First, the Jazz came out on the short end of a 113-107 verdict to the Sixers, playing their first game at Wells Fargo Center with Jimmy Butler in the lineup.

Second, while Mitchell scored 31 points, it took him 35 shots to get there.

Worse, he didn't record a single assist.

"I took 35 shots. That can't happen. Zero assists," Mitchell told reporters after his 13-of-35 shooting performance. "That's not who I am. That's not how I play. I know I'm still being aggressive, but I've got to be smart."

ESPN Stats & Information reported Mitchell's 31-point, zero-assist line was the first such performance since Carmelo Anthony scored 62 points for the New York Knicks in a victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Jan. 24, 2014. Previous to that, the last time such a stat line was produced by Antoine Walker of the Boston Celtics, who put up 35 shots without an assist in defeat Jan. 7, 1998. On top of that, no NBA player has taken so many shots without recording an assist and scored fewer points than Mitchell on Friday night since Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, then playing for the San Diego Rockets, scored 28 points in defeat on Feb. 8, 1969.

Still, the Jazz were unified in their postgame locker room in support of Mitchell, who was booed throughout the game by Philadelphia fans who has not forgotten the disputed race to be NBA Rookie of the Year last season between him and Ben Simmons of the 76ers.

"We want him to be aggressive. We need him to be aggressive," Joe Ingles said. "I said it to him during one of the timeouts -- If he feels good about the shot and it's a good shot within our offense, he needs to shoot it. If he's 1-for-20 or 20-for-20, it doesn't matter for us. He's our guy. That's what he does. He's aggressive.

"He doesn't need to overthink it. He doesn't need to think that it's his fault that we lost. I think the last thing he needs to do is be worrying about it."

Jazz center Rudy Gobert agreed.

"His No. 1 strength is to get to the rim and make plays," he said. "He needs to learn to make the right decision at the right time. It's not easy. The NBA is hard. It's a tough league. He's learning."

Jazz coach Quin Snyder wants Mitchell to remain in attack mode.

"We know where his heart is as far as wanting to play the right way and being [selfless]," Snyder said. "The biggest thing is just having him attack. If he's not attacking, he's not in situations where he can improve. I think that's the most important thing, and then over time, you just become more efficient. That doesn't happen overnight."

Mitchell, averaging 4.0 assists on the season, continued to be hard on himself about his performance.

"I expect to be perfect," Mitchell said. "I just can't have a game like that, in my opinion. My teammates are always going to be there for me, having my back. My coach is always going to have my back. That's what keeps me going, because I'm hard on myself.

"But I'm going to shoot my way out of this and just stay locked in and stay focused."

The Jazz (7-8) get right back at it tonight, playing Boston (9-6) at TD Garden. Both teams will be playing the tail end of a back-to-back, the Celtics having defeated the Toronto Raptors, 123-116, in overtime Friday night.