Donovan Mitchell went off for 71 points on Monday night. Kyrie Irving was gaming with him that afternoon and knew something big was coming.
Donovan Mitchell has had some big scoring nights in his career but Monday night took the cake. He finished the Cavs’ overtime win over the Bulls with 71 points, shooting 23-of-34 from the field, 7-of-15 from beyond the arc, and 20-of-25 from the free-throw line. He scored 16 in the first half, 42 in the second and 13 in overtime.
Along the way, Mitchell joined an exclusive club of just seven players in NBA history to score 70 or more in a single game — Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, Devin Booker and now Mitchell.
Anyone who says they saw that specific scoring explosion coming Monday night is probably exaggerating, but Kyrie Irving (who is well-known for a rigid adherence to objective fact) says he saw something coming.
Donovan Mitchell passed Kyrie Irving on the Cavaliers’ single-game scoring leaderboard
Before Mitchell’s 71-pointer, the Cavaliers’ single-game scoring record was held jointly by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, at 57 points. The Cavs now have 14 games of 50+ points in franchise history and 11 of them belong to James or Kyrie.
However, Mitchell could make plenty more dents in the franchise record books before he’s done. He is on track for more than 300 made 3-pointers this season would smash the team’s single-season 3-point record. He’s also within striking distance of the franchise record scoring average — LeBron holds the record at 31.4, Mitchell is currently at 29.3.
There is still a lot of basketball to be played but Mitchell has the Cavs in position to compete for a championship, another accomplishment he’d like to share with LeBron and Kyrie.
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