Donovan Mitchell

It’s certainly no secret that if the Cavaliers aspire to deliver a second-ever championship to the city of Cleveland, there’s one team in green-and-white that they must prepare to overcome. Spurred on by 19,432 in attendance, hoping to see mid-November’s loss be avenged, Donovan Mitchell used December 1, 2024’s opportunity to do what every great contender before has done: give the people something to talk about anyways. Reasons to “fold,” as Mitchell noted in his postgame presser, arrived in bunches, as Cleveland eyed a scoreboard that verified a late-game 12-point deficit. Finding it to be nothing that a 20-point fourth quarter couldn’t solve, Cleveland’s six-time All-Star got to work, flipping his switch to a postseason-like setting. 3-pointers arrived in every variation; first came the nifty stepbacks through traffic, with spot-up and off-screen buckets arriving closely behind. Before one knew it, the Boston Celtics’ lead had been erased, and Mitchell’s individual box score told the prevailing story. Elevating his game, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ star poured on 35 points (on 12-of-21 shooting), along with seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block, and six triples.