In a season with a lot of 40+ and 50+ point games, Donovan Mitchell looked at Luka and said, “hold my postgame recovery beer...”
Mitchell dropped 71 on the Bulls Monday night — and the Cavaliers needed all of that to get the overtime win over the Bulls.
71 PTS
— NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2023
8 REB
11 AST
W
Donovan Mitchell sets a new scoring record for the Cleveland Cavaliers and becomes only the 7th player in NBA history to score 70+ points in a game. pic.twitter.com/qbOwr3sqyH
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 3, 2023
Mitchell scored 13 of those points in overtime but it only got to that point because he hit the shot of the night, executing the missed free throw and putback with three seconds left in the game.
YOU WATCHING THIS??!! #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/U5CWlRj7oT
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 3, 2023
Mitchell — exhausted and breathing very heavily by the end — finished hitting 22-of-34 overall, 7-of-15 from 3, got to the line 25 times, and dished out 11 assists (he accounted for 99 of the Cavaliers’ 145 points).
That 71 is a career-high for Mitchell, the most points ever scored in a game by a Cavaliers player, and the most points scored by a player this season. Only six other players in NBA history have topped the 70-point mark: Wilt Chamberlain (six times), Elgin Baylor, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant and Devin Booker.
It still took overtime for the Cavaliers to earn the win as the Bulls got 44 from DeMar DeRozan and 26 from Zach Lavine, but it wasn’t enough.
Not against Donovan Mitchell on this night.