Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell. ESPN Cleveland/Rob Lorenzo.
Game Night Observations: The greatest single-game performance in Cavaliers history
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Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and thelandondemand.com.Donovan Mitchell walked into the media room deep inside of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Monday night dripping with a mixture of sweat and water that was poured on him by his teammates after the final buzzer sounded of Cleveland’s 145-134 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls.
“Come on in!” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said to Mitchell, pausing the answer he was giving to the media. “No, no, no, a lot of questions about you.”
The questions were all about Mitchell after he played the greatest game in Cavaliers history while he set a franchise record with 71 points against the Bulls.
The Cavs trailed the Chicago Bulls 65-47 and earned a fiery halftime speech from Bickerstaff. At that time, there was no reason to expect that Monday night would be anything special. It looked like just one game out of 82 that would fade into the past after its completion. At that point, Mitchell had 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He entered the game in a bit of a funk, shooting 32% from the floor in the previous four games and started out 2-of-6 from the floor.
The night then turned into an event that no one in attendance will ever forget.
“There's not enough words, I've never been witness to a performance like that live,” Bickerstaff said of Mitchell’s performance after the game. “I think we've seen some even on TV before, but we were treated tonight to one of the greatest performances in the history of the NBA.”
“I was telling some of these guys, in my 15 years, that’s the best performance I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been a part of — I’ve seen some special ones,” Kevin Love said. “I was talking about Kyrie [Irving] here against Portland when he had 55. LeBron [James] in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals. Fifty-seven for Kyrie in San Antonio. But this one takes the cake.”
It was, simply put, the greatest regular season performance in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mitchell’s final stat line was 71 points on 22-of-34 from the field (7-of-15 from 3-point range), 20-of-25 from the free throw line, 11 assists, and eight rebounds. Mitchell scored or assisted on 99 points for the Cavaliers. He did not sit for a second following halftime while scoring 55 points in that span. Mitchell’s 71 points ties him for the eighth-most points in a single-game in NBA history.In each of the instances where a player scored 71 points or more, that player never recorded more than five assists in the game. In eight of those nine games, the player that scored 71 points or more had two assists or less. Mitchell scoring 71 points and adding in 11 assists is something that has never been done in NBA history. According to OptaSTATS, there has only been one game in NBA history in which a player has scored and assisted on more than 99 points. That game was Wilt Chamberlin's NBA record of 100 points in a single game in which he assisted on four points.
There’s no way to describe his game on Monday other than completely masterful. After halftime, there was nothing the Bulls could do to stop Mitchell. Their only hope was that he would run out of gas. He was in complete control of every moment in a way that has only been done a handful of times in NBA history.
“It’s humbling. I’m speechless to be honest with you,” Mitchell said of his performance. “Not only did I do that, but I did it in an effort where we came back and won and it’s how we won. This is nuts. I’m extremely blessed and humbled that I’m in that company, in that group.”
The Cavaliers have had plenty of fantastic games from great players. Obviously, LeBron James spent 11 years with the organization and may be considered the greatest to ever play, but he didn’t have a regular season game quite like this one. Kyrie Irving, one of the NBA’s most prolific scorers, spent six seasons in Cleveland. He had incredible performances including 55 points in a game against Portland and a 57-point game against the Spurs.
This was different than anything those guys had done. This was a game where the Cavaliers had nothing going well for them in the first half, and were willed to one of the more improbably victories of the season behind one of the best regular season performances in NBA history. The previous franchise record for points in a game was held by both James and Irving at 57 points. Mitchell had 55 points in the second half alone. What he did on Monday night has never been done in a Cavaliers uniform, and may never be done again.
How they won
Despite Mitchell’s heroics, this wasn’t a game the Cavaliers were ever in control of. They trailed by as many as 21 points against the Bulls and struggled to close the gap. There were times during the third quarter when the Cavaliers were able to get the game within eight points, but then the Bulls would push the lead back out to 14.
In the fourth quarter, they were able to get closer, but could never find a way to take the lead. The Cavs tied the game at 123 after Kevin Love split a pair of free throws with 1:08 remaining in regulation. The Bulls responded with a Nikola Vucevic 3-pointer to retake the lead.
The Cavaliers winning a game that they never led in regulation was almost as unlikely as the way they sent it to overtime.
With a 3-point lead, the Bulls fouled Mitchell to send him to the line for a pair of free throws. Mitchell made the first free throw to cut Chicago’s lead to 130-128.
What happened next was the most unlikely play of the night.
Mitchell intentionally missed the free throw, corralled the rebound, and put the ball back up and in to tie the game at 130 with three seconds remaining.
“Well, we've practiced it once,” Bickerstaff said of that situation. “The basketball gods love these moments. When you do the things that you're supposed to do, they show you favor and I think tonight was an example of that.”
It’s not uncommon for a team to have to intentionally miss a free throw as part of an attempt to win a game. What is uncommon is that being successful, especially in the way that it was for the Cavs on Monday.
“I’m trying to remember,” Mitchell said when asked if he had succeeded in this situation before. “That’s the first time it’s worked where I’ve gotten the ball. We’ve hit it out and missed. But I don’t think it’s ever worked for me for the shooter to catch.”
It was possibly the most special moment on what was a magical night for he and the Cavs.
