Jazz Star Donovan Mitchell 'Didn't Get Much Sleep' During Slump

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell revealed Wednesday that an early-season slump took a toll on him.

After breaking that slump with 38 points in a 100-89 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, Mitchell detailed how his on-court struggles impacted him, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon: "I was in my head. I didn't get much sleep."

Mitchell also explained how he changed his mindset:

"The past few games, I'd been struggling because I'd been kind of pressing the issue. I came into [Wednesday's game] with the mindset of just finding the open guy. That was really my biggest thing. Last year in the playoffs, there were games where I got too deep or too whatever, just kind of not making the right plays.

"To me, just being able to make the right reads early just allowed me to settle down and relax a little bit. I always put pressure on myself, whether it was last year at the beginning of the year or whatever, just to be perfect. Obviously, that's impossible."

Over his first three games, Mitchell was averaging 19 points and three assists. In addition to the 38 points he dropped against Houston, he dished out seven assists and grabbed a season-high five rebounds.

Donovan Mitchell Game Highlights

Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that Mitchell had a one-on-one meeting at the team hotel with head coach Quin Snyder prior to Wednesday's game. Jones reported that Snyder offered the following advice: "Trust your reads off the pick-and-roll. Trust in teammates. Make the right basketball plays, and the scoring will come."

The scoring did come for Mitchell, who is now averaging a healthy 23.8 points per game on the season. After finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting last season, the former Louisville standout once again has the look of a perennial All-Star.

Mitchell will attempt to build off Wednesday's performance when he leads the Jazz into New Orleans for a clash with the Pelicans on Saturday.