Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell stuns Lakers’ comeback in 96-81 loss

All of 20 years old and one day, Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball stood in front of his locker after his sixth NBA game, dejected.

He thought back to two electrifying plays by Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell near the end of the third quarter. Those plays stole away the momentum the Lakers had built by cutting the Jazz lead to six after it had been 15. He thought about his own role in them.

“That was my fault,” Ball said. “Put this loss on me. If you think about it, that kind of changed the course of the game. We were coming back. Two dumb plays by me and they got up.”

The Lakers’ second trip wasn’t as fruitful as their first. They fell to the Utah Jazz 96-81 on Saturday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena. It was the second of back-to-back games, and their third game in four nights. The Lakers fell to 2-4 as the Jazz improved to 3-3.

Mitchell led all scorers with 22 points on nine of 16 shooting, while Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 16 points. Ingram scored all 16 of his points in the first three quarters.

Jordan Clarkson finished with 15 points on seven of 12 shooting.

Ball scored nine points, all of them on three-pointers. He attempted six threes, and shot 3-of-10 overall. He also added four assists and two rebounds, with two steals and five turnovers.

Larry Nance Jr. got 10 rebounds and scored five points for the Lakers.

Utah point guard Ricky Rubio finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Lakers are plenty familiar with Mitchell, who was the 13th overall pick in a draft filled with talented guards.

He and Lakers rookies Ball and Kyle Kuzma got to know each other during the pre-draft process. Lakers forward Julius Randle worked out with Mitchell over the summer, and liked his attitude and talent. Mitchell also worked out for the Lakers during the pre-draft process.

“We know what kind of competitor he is,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said.

Mitchell came off the bench for the Jazz and had seven points at halftime. Until the final minute of the third quarter, he had just 10.

The Lakers fell behind early on poor shooting in the first quarter, after which they trailed 31-16.

They battled a much bigger Jazz team to claw back from that and cut the lead from double digits to six with a driving layup by Clarkson and a three-pointer by Kuzma.

Then Utah’s Alec Burks missed a three-pointer and Mitchell, who is 6-feet-3, leaped into the air soaring above the rim to slam home a one-handed dunk with Ball standing below him to the left of the basket.

“That was kind of a teaching point, how one play at this level can change the entire game,” Walton said. “We had all the momentum at that point.”

Seconds later, Ball turned the ball over to Joe Johnson, who kicked it to Mitchell for a three-pointer with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.

“We didn’t box him out,” Walton said. “He just came flying in, got that tip dunk which electrified the home crowd, as it should have. He probably hit that next three because of how good he was feeling on the tip dunk, and then before you know it, it’s an 11-point fourth-quarter lead instead of a four- or six-point lead.”

Said Ball: “I should have boxed him out. Then I threw the turnover.... We lost today. I feel like it was my fault. Watch the film and move on. Those plays could have been avoided if I had done the right thing.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli