CLEVELAND, Ohio — With the NBA spotlight shining on Cleveland Monday night, Donovan Mitchell shimmered.
Playing on Peacock, one of the league’s new streaming platforms, Mitchell led the Cavs to a second straight win, beating Central Division rival Milwaukee, 118-106, at Rocket Arena. Cleveland has won three of its last four.
Forty-eight hours after Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson lamented a lack of juice from his team, Cleveland got off to another sluggish start.
The Bucks went up 11-2 in the first two-plus minutes and led by double figures for a good stretch of the first quarter, as Mitchell was the Cavaliers’ only reliable source of consistent offense. He tallied 14 points in the first quarter, his second-highest opening period of the season.
Even in the face of Mitchell’s outburst, Milwaukee was ahead at the end of the first and Cleveland had to play from behind.
Again.
Shortly after using a 14-6 burst to start the second and claiming their first lead of the night, the Cavs saw their comeback effort get a bit easier, as Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo limped off the floor with a groin injury.
Officially characterized with a left groin strain, Antetokounmpo was ruled out for the remainder of the game at halftime. He only logged 13 minutes.
Even without Antetokounmpo — Milwaukee’s leader in points, rebounds and assists — the Bucks stayed competitive.
The third quarter was a ferocious battle, with eight lead changes, four ties and a margin that stayed within two possessions for all 12 minutes.
At the end of it, Cleveland led by four.
But the Cavs used an 8-3 surge to increase that advantage to nine around the eight-minute mark. It was the biggest lead for either team in the second half up to that point.
Until the Cavs extended that even more with a late-game flurry while Milwaukee ran out of gas.
Mitchell finished with a game-high 37 points on 14 of 22 from the field and 4 of 8 from 3-point range in 36 star-studded minutes. Sharpshooter Sam Merrill added 20 points. He was 7 of 10 from the field and 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.
Jarrett Allen (12 points), Evan Mobley (14), Craig Porter Jr. (11) and De’Andre Hunter (11) also reached double figures for the Cavs.
The Bucks were led by Toledo alum Ryan Rollins, who had 24 points. Offseason addition Myles Turner chipped in with 15. Antetokounmpo finished with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists before exiting early.
Monday night was billed as two conference contenders. Quite possibly the two best players in the conference. A pair of perennial MVP candidates.
Mitchell certainly looked the part.
Up next
The Cavs will continue their homestand on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
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