Early in the third quarter of Game 7 between the Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, guard Donovan Mitchell of the Cavaliers brought the ball up the court.
After falling down by as many as eighteen points in the first half, his squad was in the midst of a dramatic comeback. After cutting across half court, Mitchell took three dribbles to set himself up at the top of the 3-point arc before draining a 26-foot jumper.
They were down to four points after that basket. It turned the tide decisively back in their favor, and the Cavs capitalized on it to win 106-94 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2019. They’ve advanced to the second round for the first time in thirty years without LeBron James.
Mitchell scored 39 points in Game 7 after scoring 50 points in the previous game. His 89 points in the last two series games are second only to Allen Iverson’s 90 in 2001 for the most points in Games 6 and 7 in NBA history.
Mitchell remarked, “I’m tired of losing in the first round,” “You work too hard. We work too hard. That was my mindset … for me, just be in attack mode. I’m battling through what I’m battling through, but I could battle through it and figure it out, or rehab it for the next three or four months. That’s where I’m at mentally.”
Mitchell has been dealing with the same knee ailment that has bothered him throughout the entire campaign. He fought against his body, grumbled, and shuffled throughout the entire game. But he didn’t think he had an option.
Mitchell had trouble for the duration of the first half. He was just 1 of 7 with 15 points as Jalen Suggs was his main defense.
But Mitchell outscored the Magic 20–19 on his own from the halfway point of the second quarter to the conclusion of the third. Nine of his 11 made field goals, or all but six of his points, were scored in the paint.
According to Darius Garland, “He’s a competitor.” “He’s a go-getter. He’s a winner — that’s all he talks about. He wants us to get over this hump. He’s going to do anything possible to get us over it.”
The Cavs maintained their confidence despite falling behind early. Mitchell expressed his gratitude to Orlando for starting their run early, since it allowed Cleveland to make a counterattack. The Cavs’ comeback into the game in the latter minutes of the half was plodding and laborious.
At the half, the word to stay even-kneed was being passed about in the locker room. The Cavs eventually put together their run in the third quarter. Mitchell’s three was the first.
The biggest comeback in a Game 7 for Cleveland sinceSince at least 1997, Cleveland’s 18-point comeback in a Game 7 is the biggest. With 5:10 remaining in the second quarter, the Magic had taken a 47-29 lead. However, the Cavaliers outscored the Magic by 30 points the rest of the way, shooting 57% from the floor while restricting Orlando to 27%.
The second-highest number of points in a series in NBA finals history came from Donovan Mitchell’s 89 points in Games 6 and 7. Only Allen Iverson had more against the Bucks in 2001.
The Cavaliers made it clear after Game 6 that Mitchell needed assistance. He scored the game’s last 14 minutes in Orlando, the only other player from Cleveland to do so. In Game 7, the Cavs understood that couldn’t possibly be the case.
“[Mitchell is] the guy that can pull everybody along, not just with his skill but in spirit as well,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Mitchell. “When you see your teammate, a guy you care about playing that way, you don’t want to let that guy down so you go out and do whatever you can to help that guy.
“We talk about how everybody has their style and their piece of leadership here and that’s how Don leads, by being special in the moment. His teammates want to be a part of it.”
Mitchell encircled his bench-mates several times during the game, shouting in their ears while doing so. When halt was coming up, he gathered the gathering around him on the court. When they made a basket or came to a halt, he gave them a bear embrace.
Max Strus scored thirteen, Caris LeVert finished with fifteen, and Garland scored twelve. Despite being Orlando’s main opponent, Evan Mobley finished with 11 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks, and only 6 of 22 shots made.
“This is always definitely a special moment for this group, in particular, who has been through so much this year — who’s been left for dead multiple times by a lot of people,” Bickerstaff said. “For them to come together in this moment and figure it out … we’re most proud of that, but we’re not done yet.”
Every member of the Cavaliers’ “not done yet” mentality will be present when they quickly change teams to play the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
This season, the team’s overarching objective included removing the bad taste from their mouths left by the way their brief postseason run ended the previous year.
“We didn’t make the group we made just to come in and win the first round,” Mitchell stated. “We accomplished one goal, now we have to do it again. That’s the mindset. … When they traded for me, it wasn’t just to win a first-round series, it was to continue to push and move forward. And I think that’s where all of our heads are at.”