Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell reaches first conference finals, matches Kobe with Game 7 stat line
Late in the first quarter of Game 7 between the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, Pistons guard Marcus Sasser hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six points — a big shot that looked like it would give the home team some momentum after the Cavaliers dominated the opening frame.
Donovan Mitchell had other ideas. The seven-time All-Star took a pass from Evan Mobley, pushed the ball up and shot from inside the field. His high bounced off the glass and into the net to push the Cavaliers’ lead back to nine points. Only briefly in the second quarter would the Pistons come close.
With Mitchell leading the way, the Cavaliers cruised to a 125-94 win in one of the most epic Game 7 road games in NBA history. Mitchell finished with 26 points, six rebounds, eight assists and zero turnovers to reach the conference finals for the first time in his career.
“It’s a breath of fresh air,” Mitchell said of reaching the conference finals. “But like you said, this wasn’t the goal when we started the season. Even last year when we lost in Indiana we had our goals set to get to the Finals and we’re just one step closer. But yeah, it’s been about ten years of dealing with the same issue, right? So, sure, I can personally, and as a team we can breathe a little bit, but in only 2 hours we can breathe a little bit.”
The Cavaliers will return to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2018, where they will face the New York Knicks, and will make the first trip to the ECF without LeBron James since 1992. Notably, the Cavaliers have never made the Finals without James.
“He was better than Donovan Mitchell. Is that possible? I don’t know, that’s like bad English,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “It started with him. His defense, his rebounding and when he got in the paint and started making other people better — relief bowls for our big guys. That was the key, I felt, in the game. He had complete control of the game.”
Game 7 highway wins
Mitchell had been largely consistent through the first six games of the series and was coming off a comeback in Game 6 on Friday night when he put up 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting from the field with a chance to seal his first trip to the conference finals. He got another chance on Sunday and didn’t let it slip.
“He started the game not trying to take it, not trying to score every goal,” said Jarrett Allen. “He started the game trying to spread the ball. I think that’s big for a leader like him. Trying to get everyone going and then he gets out of the second position.”
Mitchell’s eight assists were the most in a postseason game, and he became the first guard since Kobe Bryant in 2002 to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a Game 7.
The Cavaliers will need this version of Mitchell, a New York native, against the Knicks if they want to pull off the upset in that series. He has struggled at times this season, but when he plays well, the Cavaliers win. They are now 5-1 when Mitchell scores at least 25 points and 3-5 when he doesn’t.
“My boyfriend and I joked that we’d be home no matter what, right?” Mitchell said. “So we might as well play basketball while we’re in bed. It’ll be special for sure.”
