Jazz' Donovan Mitchell Will Not Play vs. Wizards Because of Illness

The Utah Jazz announced star Donovan Mitchell will miss Sunday's game against the Washington Wizards due to an illness.  

It will be the first missed game of the year for the guard, who is averaging 24.2 points and 4.4 assists per game this year.

Mitchell shook off a slow start to the season and finished 2018-19 by averaging 23.8 points and 4.2 assists while shooting 36.2 percent from three-point range.

The Houston Rockets successfully exploited Mitchell's weakness as a shooter in the first round of the postseason. His scoring average dropped to 21.4 while he shot just 32.1 percent from the field and 25.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Sensing an opportunity to take the next step toward title contention, Utah acquired Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies and signed Bojan Bogdanovic to a four-year, $73.1 million deal.

Conley has struggled to adjust to his new surroundings, however, and a hamstring injury has kept him off the court.

Bogdanovic allows the Jazz to be a little more prepared for Mitchell's injury, while Emmanuel Mudiay should provide some valuable depth out of the backcourt. An eight-game win streak entering Sunday also gives the squad a bit of leeway to play without its leading scorer.

Mitchell will still leave a huge void in the backcourt should his recovery prove similarly prolonged to Conley's.