Arbitrary "MVP" chants rained down around Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Monday night as Donovan Mitchell, who scored 71 points and recorded 11 assists, led the Cavs from an 18-point halftime deficit to a miraculous 9-point victory in overtime. Without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, the undermanned Cavaliers failed to secure a single lead for the entire forty-eight minutes of regulation. Yet, somehow, they came out on top.
video provided by Ryan Kovacs
The Cavs were extremely flat out of the gate. By about midway through the second quarter, they had already fallen behind by 15. They played so poorly early on that it took the Cavs the same amount of time to score their first five points in each opening quarter as it did their final 18 points at the end of regulation (about 4 mins).1 With the injuries, J.B. Bickerstaff went to his bench early and often. Cedi Osman, Raul Neto, and Isaac Okoro answered the call and played well enough to keep the Cavs alive in the first half. However, just before the break, the Cavaliers trailed by 20, and Chicago’s win probability peaked at 94%.2
Spida made his first field goal of the second half with 8:25 remaining on the third-quarter clock. At that point, the score was 69—53, and Donovan only had 19 points. However, somewhere within the next 30 to 90 seconds, something in the air suddenly changed. In less than two minutes, Mitchell rattled off eight straight points, making back-to-back-to-back shots in the paint before being sent to the line and sinking two free throws. For the rest of the third, the same pattern continued. As Donovan continued to get what he wanted, his defenders either backed off and let him shoot or chose to give up a step off the dribble and sent him to the line. There was simply no way to stop him.
D-Mitch ended the quarter with 24 points; he shot 6/10 from the field, was 0/2 behind the arc, but sank all 12 of his free throws during the period. He nearly outscored the Bulls' entire roster, as they only put up 31 during the quarter and accounted for over half of the Cavs’ total to open the half (27 of 47 points). Entering the fourth, Donovan had 40, and the lead was cut to five.
video provided by Ryan Kovacs
Still, the Bulls continued to play well. On any other night, DeMar DeRozan’s 44 probably would have been enough to get his team the win. But over the final 17 minutes of play, D-Mitch went on to put up another 31 points. Most notably, was his Luka Doncic-esque, game-saving tip-in off of his own missed free throw with just 3 seconds remaining. With that acrobatic put-back, Spida instantaneously (1) knotted the score at 130, (2) recorded his franchise-record 58th point, and (3) completely shocked the entire NBA world with one of the most insane buckets in Cavs history.3 As overtime commenced, the only question one could ask was, "Has he really got more in the tank?"
In the 2nd half and OT, Spida scored 52 points (13/19FG, 4/7 3PT-FG, 17/20 FT) in just 29 minutes.
"I mean, we’ve come this far, we might as well win the game."
—Donovan Mitchell summarizing his thoughts before his second free throw at the end of regulation.
With the win, the Cavs clinched the regular-season series against Chicago (3-0) and brought their record even with the Milwaukee Bucks atop the divisional standings. Mitchell became the 7th player in NBA history to score 70+ points, and his total marked the most points in an NBA game since Kobe bagged 81 against the Raptors in 2006.
Prior to the game, the Cavs gave a positive update on PG Ricky Rubio, who was cleared for 5-on-5 and appears close to returning from a knee injury that has kept him sidelined since December 2021. Rubio’s jumpshot looked awfully smooth during shootaround, and his release point seemed much higher and much more quick-triggered than I originally remembered. Hopefully, the Cavs will be looking to him as a weapon to use down the stretch. When the team gets healthy, they will add Rubio, Garland, Mobley, and Dean Wade to a team that will be looking to steal the division from the Bucks—who have won it the last 4 seasons.
Barring any trades, the Cavs’ final 12-man roster should look something like this:
G: Garland, Mitchell, Levert, Rubio, Neto
F: Love, Osman, Stevens, Wade
C: Mobley, Allen, Lopez
A fully-staffed Cavs roster will be able to compete with Brooklyn, Boston, and Milwaukee for the Eastern Conference crown. Even with the makeshift crew, which could not grab the lead for over 48 minutes of play against Chicago, it always felt like the Cavs were down, just never out. When it mattered most, they hit shots. Winning a gritty game like that, with or without 71 points from a single player, builds toughness, and toughness wins championships.
video provided by Ryan Kovacs
video provided by Ryan Kovacs
ESPN Gamecast— https://www.espn.com/nba/playbyplay/_/gameId/401468707
ESPN Win Probability— https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401468707
Most Points in Cavaliers’ single-game—https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/cleveland-cavaliers-franchise-record-points-for-a-player-in-a-single-game