Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell’s 29th birthday is on Sunday. The New York native was born in September of 1996, and to celebrate another journey around the sun for the six-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA selection, let’s rank the five best moments of his Cavs tenure so far.
Mitchell has played for the Cavaliers for the last three seasons and has put together a myriad of noteworthy moments in that span.
1. He drops 71 points against the Chicago Bulls in early 2023
In a showdown versus the Bulls in January of 2023 in Mitchell’s maiden season in Cleveland, he went out and had far and away the best scoring game of his pro career.
Mitchell became one of just 10 players in the history of the league to join the 70-point club after he dropped 71 points while shooting 22-of-34 from the field, 7-of-15 from 3-point range and 20-of-25 from the charity stripe in an overtime victory for the Cavaliers.
He set a new franchise record for the most points scored in a single game, and that record stands to this day. Holding any Cavaliers franchise record is impressive when considering how long forward LeBron James suited up for the organization.
2. Mitchell has a herculean Game 7 showing against Orlando in 2024 NBA Playoffs
At halftime of Game 7 of the Cavaliers’ first-round series against the Orlando Magic in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, Cleveland was staring down the barrel of a 10-point deficit. It seemed that the team was in jeopardy of getting bounced in the opening round yet again.
However, the Cavaliers won the game by 12 after outscoring Orlando by 22 points across the final two quarters, and such a comeback wouldn’t have been possible if not for Mitchell putting the team on his back from a scoring standpoint. He dropped 39 points while no other player for Cleveland scored more than 15 points.
Mitchell certainly lived up to his reputation as a playoff riser in that Game 7 and simultaneously kept Cleveland’s season alive for a good amount longer.
3. He played as well as almost anyone in the 2023 NBA All-Star Game
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game just so happened to take place in Utah, and Mitchell gave the fans who watched him play for the Utah Jazz for so many years quite a show. If it weren’t for Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum going nuclear, perhaps Mitchell would have won the game’s MVP award.
Mitchell scored the second-most points of any player in the contest behind only Tatum with 40 on 15-of-25 shooting from the field. The guard dished out a team-high 10 assists to boot, and Team Giannis earned a nine-point victory.
He reminded Jazz fans what they lost when they traded him to the Cavaliers with his performance in the All-Star Game.
4. Mitchell goes off for big all-around game against the Brooklyn Nets in Paris
The Cavaliers and Nets played a game overseas in the middle of the 2023-24 regular season, and Mitchell didn’t squander his rare opportunity to play in front of an international audience.
He torched the Nets for 45 points on 30 shot attempts from the floor but made a huge impact in other ways as well. Mitchell finished with 12 rebounds, six assists and four steals and really showed off his wide-ranging skill set in a contest the Cavaliers won by nine points.
Cavaliers fans are hoping that Mitchell has some more huge all-around performances left in the tank, and he likely does.
5. Cavs beat Boston Celtics in Game 2 of 2024 second-round series behind Mitchell showing
Cleveland proved to be no match for the Celtics when the two teams clashed in the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, as the Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers in five games on their path to that year’s title.
The Cavaliers’ only win of the best-of-seven series came in Game 2 in Boston, and Mitchell just so happened to score 29 points in that contest. Cleveland won the game by more than 20 points to even the series at one game apiece at the time.
Mitchell’s performance in that contest gave folks evidence of just how fordable the Cavaliers are when the guard is playing at the top of his game.