The Spida, also known as Donovan Mitchell, played the best game of his career yesterday in an NBA regular season game against his Eastern Conference rival and six-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls, scoring an unmatched 71 points in 50 total minutes played. The Cavs emerge the winner in the overtime triumph, beating the Bulls with a score of 145-134 after the final whistle was blown. The win meant Cleveland Cavaliers are now on a two-game winning streak and had stretched their win totals at home to 17, which is the best home record in both the Eastern Conference as well as league overall.
The Spida Broke Cavs’ Franchise Record
Mitchell’s 71-point game came from a 22-34 shooting night, including seven threes and 20 free throws. Apart from putting on a scoring spree that eventually broke the franchise record of Cleveland in the NBA, he also added 11 assists and was two rebounds shy from a triple-double night. The 71-point game by Mitchell was the most since Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker scored 70 against Boston Celtics back in 2017. Furthermore, the 26-year-old guard had just became only the seventh player in the history of the NBA to score 71 points or more, with others include Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor. What is more, the last time someone scored more than Mitchell on Monday was Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game against Toronto Raptors.
The crazy high-scoring from Mitchell pushed his scoring average to a 29.3 PPG this season, allowing him to be ranked seventh among all players in the NBA, with his assist per game and field goal percentage are all in the top 50 in the league. With the Cavs now ranked 4th in the Eastern Conference, the Mitchell-led team is looking promising to challenge for the title, especially when they have a superb record at home this season.
Put it in writing. ✍️ #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/iphvVYYPwv
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 3, 2023
Mitchell: “I Am Humbled.”
When spoked about his unparalleled performance last night, Mitchell was modest with his response, stated that “I’m extremely blessed and humbled that I’m in that company, in that group. I’ve always believed I can be one of the best players in this league, but I’ve got to keep working. This is a big milestone, but at the end of the day, those guys have all won at the highest level. That’s my ultimate goal.”
But in a few weeks of video game numbers being displayed by players, fans are treated with some serious scoring highlights as there had only been four days in the history of the NBA where five players scored at least 40 points on the same day before 23rd December 2022, but the bizarre record had been matched thrice in two weeks, with Mitchell, Klay Thompson, LeBron James, Joel Embiid and DeMar DeRozan also scoring at least 40 this week. The Spida had added that he is blessed to have his name mentioned alongside the greats of the game, highlighting that “I’ll say again: Humbled to be in that company, humbled to be in this position.”
Mitchell might have broken Cavs’ franchise record last night, but we would not be surprised if he rewrite the history book again as so many high-scoring games have been witnessed over a short period of time in recent times.
Teammates Are Jubilant About His Performance
All of Mitchell’s teammates were amazed by his game last night, with Kevin Love saying that “In my 15 years, that’s the best performance I’ve ever seen, ever been a part of. I’ve seen some special ones, I was talking about Kyrie here against Portland when he had 55, LeBron in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals, 57 for Kyrie in San Antonio – but this one takes the cake.”, while head coach of the Cavs J.B. Bickerstaff also shared his admiration over his star player.
