Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell. ESPN Cleveland/Rob Lorenzo
Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and thelandondemand.comThe Chicago Bulls held a 3-point lead in the closing seconds of Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bulls did what many teams choose to do in that situation: commit a non-shooting foul, and send a player to the free throw line for two foul shots. It’s a play that maximizes Chicago’s chances of winning the game due to how difficult it is to intentionally miss a free throw only to collect the rebound and put it back up and in.
That’s exactly what Donovan Mitchell did. When the ball reached the bottom of the net, not only were the Cavs and Bulls were tied, but Mitchell took over the single-game scoring record in Cavaliers history with 58 points on the night.
Mitchell then scored 13 more points in overtime to give him a total of 71 points in the team’s come from behind victory. Not only was Mitchell’s scoring output the highest in Cavaliers history, it was one of the highest in NBA history. In fact, when adding in the 28 points he accounted for via assist, Monday night was the second-most points a player has ever accounted for in a single game via points and assists, according to OptaSTATS. The only game in which a player contributed more points to a team was the night when Wilt Chamberlin scored 100 points and added in two assists to bring his total to 104.
There are a number of different intricacies that make Mitchell’s night so astounding. There isn’t really a debate as to whether or not it’s the best regular season game played in team history – playoff games should be graded on an entirely different scale – but it is interesting to see which games played by former Cavs great compare to Mitchell’s magical night.
Using Basketball-Reference.com’s Game Score metric, the Cavaliers have had three of the top 55 games played since the start of the 1983-84 season. Mitchell’s game ranks third all-time in the metric, trailing only Michael Jordan’s 69-point performance and Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game. The other two games that featured members of the Cavs belong to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving.
Jan. 2, 2023 – Donovan Mitchell vs. Chicago Bulls – 71 points, 11 assists, eight rebounds, one block, four turnovers, (22-of-34 FGA, 7-of-15 3PA, 20-of-25 FT) BBREF Game Score: 60.8
What made the night special: Mitchell’s 55 points after halftime
There are a number of things that could have filled in that line for Mitchell’s night, but the fact that Mitchell wasn’t having a great night in the first half and the Cavaliers trailed by as many as 21 points made it all the more impressive. Mitchell went into the locker room at halftime with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
After halftime, Mitchell was 17-of-24 from the floor on his way to 55 points and eight assists in 29 minutes. Mitchell’s second half alone would have made its way on this list, that’s how great it was.
Nov. 3, 2017 – LeBron James vs. Washington Wizards – 57 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, two blocks, three turnovers, BBREF Game Score: 53.2What made the night special: James’ 19-point fourth quarter
The 2017-18 version of the Cavs were certainly the worst of the four teams that James played on in his second stint in Cleveland. Once Irving left via trade, the Cavs struggled to have a secondary creator and scorer alongside of James. On this night in Washington, though, it didn’t matter one bit.
That night in Washington, every time the Wizards made a run at Cleveland’s lead, James was able to find his way into a bucket to push Cleveland’s lead back out.
March 12, 2015 – Kyrie Irving vs San Antonio Spurs – 57 points, three rebounds, five assists, four steals, two turnovers, (20-of-32 FGA, 7-of-7 3PA, 10-of-10 FT) BBREF Game Score: 48.2
What made the night special: Irving’s clutch shot-making
Irving was never the perfect player for the Cavs, but there weren’t too many times in his career when the moment was too big for him. That March night in San Antonio was one of the brightest stages of the season, and Irving stepped up.
The Spurs were the defending champs after beating the Miami Heat the previous June and didn’t lose very often at home. San Antonio held a 108-101 lead with less than a minute left in regulation and a 110-104 lead with 32 seconds left. That’s when Irving took over.
Irving hit a pair of 3-pointers in the last 32 seconds, including one at the buzzer to send it to overtime. In total, Irving had 20 points in the final minute of regulation and the five minutes of overtime. It was the finest performance in a regular season game that Irving had while playing for the Cavaliers.
Neither of those games are on the same level as the one Mitchell played on Monday night against Chicago, but they are games that certainly bring back fond memories for Cavs fans.
