Mitchell after rout of short-handed Nets: We want to play against guys like KD, Kyrie, Harden

New York, March 25: Donovan Mitchell was left a little disappointed at not being able to go up against the Brooklyn Nets' absent 'big three' but praised his Utah Jazz team-mates for not getting complacent in a 118-88 victory.

Ordinarily Wednesday's contest in Salt Lake City would have captured the imagination of neutrals, given it pitted Eastern and Western Conference contenders against each other.

But the game lost a lot of the attraction due to James Harden (neck), Kevin Durant (hamstring) and Kyrie Irving (personal reasons) all being absent.

Such a situation might have led to some teams taking a more relaxed approach, but not the Jazz, and it was this professionalism that impressed Mitchell, who top-scored with 27 points.

"We want to play against guys like KD, Kyrie, James Harden - that's what competitiveness is," he said in his post-game interview.

"But we're not going to change how we play or our mindset because those guys aren't in the game.

"The biggest thing was trying to be aggressive, get downhill, make plays, get on the rim and finish. That was just my mindset from the jump.

goodnight, everybody pic.twitter.com/b0OiGT7ZPd

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) March 25, 2021

"We've had instances in my time here where we've played differently because guys have been out; tonight really showed the mental fortitude we had throughout the entire game to continue to keep our foot on the pedal."

The Nets' half-time tally of 38 points was the fewest they have recorded all season, not one of their players reaching the halfway mark with double figures.

The Jazz were a whopping 21 points clear at the start of the second quarter, with the Nets never looking capable of ensuring it was a competitive game.

But Nets coach Steve Nash was realistic about the situation and even felt a hint of pride.

"That's the team [the Jazz] with the best record in the league, we went out there severely undermanned and most importantly they stuck together, played hard, defensively were pretty good; maybe gave up too many threes, but otherwise did a lot of good things defensively," he said.

"I just told them I was proud of them, and it was great to see some of those guys get some minutes, get some opportunity to make some buckets get some rebounds and stops and just kind of develop.

"So, lots to be thankful for and we move on to Detroit."

One of those who took full advantage of a rare opportunity was Alize Johnson, only signed to a 10-day contract earlier this week. He met Nash for the first time on Wednesday.

Johnson most recently played for Raptors 905 in the NBA G-League, but he certainly made his mark with a career-best 23 points – bettered by only Mitchell in the game – and 15 rebounds.

"[I wanted to] just prove to everybody that I belong here in the NBA. I've put in a lot of hard work," Johnson said.

"I got here last night and they got me in here early before the game started and go over a couple things and they did a really good job with that.

"It was pretty simple and I knew kind of the stuff they were running just from being in the league for a couple years and it just kind of showed that I have a feel for the game - I just applaud those guys for getting me ready for the game."

@AlizeJohnson drops a double-double in his Nets debut

@Chiozza11 gets his first double-double of the season

Above and Beyond | @BeyondMeat pic.twitter.com/fSUxpvIeFi

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 25, 2021