Donovan Mitchell Scored 71 Points In An Overtime Win Over The Bulls

Donovan Mitchell has been nothing short of spectacular for the Cleveland Cavaliers since he arrived in a trade this offseason, as the former Jazz All-Star entered Monday night averaging 28 points per game on 48.4/41.1/87.7 shooting splits.

However, he authored his masterpiece against the Bulls scoring 71 points, dishing out 10 assists, and pulling in eight rebounds to lead the Cavs to a win, coming back from 18 down at the half to force overtime and ultimately win the game, 145-134. Mitchell was sensational, knocking down 22 of his 34 field goal attempts and going 20-of-25 from the free throw line in the game. One of those missed free throws was purposeful, as Mitchell forced OT by executing a perfect miss at the line down two, gathering his own rebound and flipping it in to tie the game at 130-130.

What’s most impressive is that Mitchell only had 16 points at the half and reached 50 points with just over five minutes to play in the game, as he did incredible damage in the 10 minutes that was the final five of regulation and overtime, scoring 20 of his 71 in that stretch.

Mitchell joins an extremely short list of players to top 70 points in a game, with Wilt Chamberlain (twice), Elgin Baylor, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant, and Devin Booker. He is the first to do so in a game where he also recorded 10 assists, as he contributed to an unreal 99 of the Cavs 145 points in the win. You can catch the full game highlights here, as Mitchell’s historic night got Cleveland its 24th win of the season.