Larry Nance Jr. gave him a spirited competition in the final two rounds of the Dunk Contest last weekend, but he wasn’t the competitor Donovan Mitchell most wanted to beat.
That would be Dallas’ Dennis Smith Jr., who Mitchell said he wanted to see in the finals, if only because Smith has been beating him in dunk contests for years.
It might not have been an accident that Mitchell, going against Smith for the second time this season, was wearing his custom Adidas Venom shoes that he wore when he triumphed during the dunk contest. It also might not have been an accident that on the first possession of Saturday night’s game again the Mavericks that Mitchell posted up Smith, scoring on a turnaround floater and drawing the foul.
But whatever ways their rivalry manifests, there’s no bad blood between them, Smith said.
“It’s a pretty good [rivalry], man,” he said. “We’ve got two competitive guys and two hard workers on both sides. I think it’s pretty healthy.”
Both Mitchell and Smith were busy for All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, competing in both the Rising Stars Challenge and the Dunk Contest. And like Mitchell, Smith stayed in Los Angeles after the break, opting to skip a quick trip home and instead visit with some family in California.
Other events this week have been trying for Smith — he was one of several high-profile players named in a Yahoo report of players who received money from an agent in college (he did not wish to comment). But All-Star Weekend didn’t wear him out.
“He’s 20 years old,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “With his kind of ability and energy, he doesn’t get fazed by a couple days in L.A.”
Smith said he and Mitchell talk whenever they see each other, and they ran into each other several times in L.A. with nearby hotel rooms. Given that they’re both guards, they both play in the Western Conference and they’re both lottery picks from the 2017 Draft, it seems conceivable that they could have a colorful rivalry for years to come.
Does Smith see it that way?
“It could be. I don’t know,” he said. “That’s a fan’s question. I don’t know how they do that.”
Naz Mitrou-Long signs second 10-day contract
The Jazz announced Saturday afternoon that they had picked up one of their G League standouts for another 10-day contract.
Naz Mitrou-Long, a 6-foot-4 guard out of Iowa State, has been up with the Jazz on a two-way contract and a previous 10-day contract. While he’s been one of the best players on the Salt Lake City Stars roster (16.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.7 apg), he’s still only seen action in one NBA game, in December against Denver, during which he made one shot.
But coach Quin Snyder has praised Mitrou-Long’s effort in practice and his energy on the bench before. And he said Saturday night that attitude was a main factor in picking him back up for the NBA level.
“He hasn’t played a whole lot, and sometimes you just look for guys’ impact in games,” Snyder said. “But there’s other ways to impact a group, and I think he’s had a positive impact on our group in a lot of ways, whether it be practice or his mindset, his enthusiasm. We feel it’s been a good thing, and that’s why he’s back.”
Possibly also a factor: Point guard Raul Neto missed his second straight game after spraining an ankle in Friday’s shootaround. It’s not yet clear when he will return.
Briefly
Joe Ingles played in his 200th consecutive game on Saturday night, which is the third-longest active streak in the NBA.
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