Between field goals and free throws, Donovan Mitchell made 42 shots tonight. But his biggest play may have been a miss.
Mitchell had 55 points when Ayo Dosunmu of the Chicago Bulls fouled him with 4.1 seconds left and the Cleveland Cavaliers trailing by three. Mitchell made the first free throw, then intentionally missed and put back his own rebound to send the game to overtime.
Mitchell wasn’t done after scoring 58 in regulation. In overtime, he scored eight of Cleveland’s first ten points, then iced the game with his third three-pointer of OT and two free throws to put the game away.
Cleveland is now 6-0 in overtime games, and Mitchell has scored more points than anyone in the NBA in extra time, logging 34 points this season after regulation.
Mitchell’s final numbers? 71 points on 22-34 shooting, 7-15 from three and 20-25 from the free throw line — which includes the purposeful miss. And he wasn’t just gunning! Mitchell also had 11 assists, by far the most of any player who scored 70+ points. (Devin Booker had six dimes when he scored 70 points in 2017, while Wilt Chamberlain had two assists in his 100-point game, as did Kobe Bryant when he scored 81.)
Mitchell fell two rebounds short of the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history, but the seventh of his eight rebounds saved the game for Cleveland.
Is this rate of overtime dominance sustainable for Cleveland? As long as they have Donovan Mitchell, it just might be.
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