Daily Bulls

Donavon Mitchell led the Cleveland Cavaliers on a 21-point comeback to win in OT against the Chicago Bulls, 145-134. Mitchell scored a career-high, Cavaliers-record 71 points and 11 assists; he finished the game going 22-for-34 from the field. Mitchell got 55 of his points during the second half and OT. He became the first NBA player to score at least 70+ points and win since Kobe Bryant in 2006 (81 Points). Cleveland now becomes a perfect 8-0 without Darius Garland, 16-14 with Garland in the lineup. The Cavaliers become 24-14, and the Bulls fall to 16-21 and are one game out of the last play-in spot.

DeMar DeRozan scored team-high 44 points and four steals. Zach Lavine got 26 points and six assists. Nikola Vucevic got himself another double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds. All five starters for Chicago scored in double-digits.

Remember Chicago’s good start

Before Donavon Mitchell stole the show, Chicago held the Cavaliers’ 47 first-half points during the first half. That got caused by the excellent defense of the Bulls and forcing turnovers. During the first half, Cleveland had eight turnovers, which led to 13 points for the Bulls. DeMar DeRozan had 18 first-half points and three steals. Alex Caruso finished the game with one steal to continue his 12-game streak of at least one steal. The Bulls finished the half with six steals.

Chicago shot 56.1% from the field in the first half, but the question for the last 24 minutes was if they could keep that double-digit lead. The biggest lead for Chicago was 21 points.

Free Throws and frustration allows Cavs to cut lead

The most important thing to keeping double-digit leads is to keep your opponent from stopping the clock and getting easy free throws. But unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and Cleveland cut the lead from 21 to five by the end of the third quarter, 96-91. Chicago’s frustration came from the questionable calls that favored Cleveland to help the Cavaliers, even though Chicago shot above 50% during the third. DeMar DeRozan and Billy Donovan each got one technical foul for arguing about missed calls. One stat that will draw some eyes is 18 free throw attempts in the third quarter alone, 12 attempted by Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell found his groove scoring 24 points during the third quarter. Cleveland finished the game going 33-for-45 from the free throw line, while Chicago went 30-for-34.

During the fourth quarter, Chicago continued to keep their lead. With 1:08 left in the game, Kevin Love missed one of two free throws, which could have given them their first lead of the game. After DeMar DeRozan grabbed an offensive rebound, Nikola Vucevic hit a clutch three-pointer to give the Bulls a 126-123 lead. But the Cavaliers respond with a quick two by Jarrett Allen.

Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White each hit two significant free throws with under 20 seconds left. Down by three, Donovan Mitchell got fouled by Ayo Dosunmu; Mitchell hit the first free throw, missed the second on purpose, and got a tip-in shot to tie the game at 130. Mitchell possibly committed a line violation, but that is a discussion for a different day. Even though they never held the lead, Cleveland managed to get the game into overtime. That was until OT.

Bulls become cold in OT

After all of the chaos during regulation, Cleveland held all of the momentum and didn’t allow Chicago any chances during overtime. On the first possession, Donovan Mitchell hit a three-pointer to give Cleveland their first lead of the game, 133-130. He finished OT with 13 points, going perfect 4-for-4 from the field. Donovan Mitchell outscored the Bulls alone 13-4, and nobody from Chicago could get any shots to fall early in OT. The Bulls made one of eight shot attempts during OT.

Phrase of the Night

Stunning

This game was remarkable to watch. When you watch a basketball game, you never expect to see a player score 50+, but 70+ is different and special to watch. Remember, Kobe Bryant was down by 20 during the first half to Toronto. He proceeded to score 81 points and most of his points during the second half—same story in this game with Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell was struggling lately and got back to his normal self and is now one game out of the best record in the Eastern Conference, even though Mitchell got some cheap points at the free throw line.

On the other end, Chicago is stunned and can’t believe they lost another close game against Cleveland. The Mitchell tip-in shot to tie the game at 130 amazed everybody on the court and those watching the game. Chicago will have to move on fast with a matchup against a hot Brooklyn Nets squad.

Up Next

Chicago will host Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Cleveland will host Phoenix on Wednesday.

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