To start the 2025-26 campaign, injury woes have beset the Cleveland Cavaliers. Darius Garland was already out to begin the year after undergoing toe surgery during the offseason. But then Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen joined Garland on the mend, putting the Cavs’ mettle to the test this early in the new season. Nonetheless, on Sunday night, the Cavs’ best player, Donovan Mitchell, simply decided to put the team on his back in a contest against the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks.
Mitchell had the best game of the new season thus far, putting up 37 points on 12-21 shooting from the field and 8-15 from beyond the arc, as the Cavs earned their fourth win of the season in seven tries, 117-109. In so doing, Mitchell extended his lead as the Cavs’ all-time leading scorer in games with eight or more three-pointers, as this marked his sixth such game (according to StatMuse). Kevin Love and JR Smith trail Mitchell in these all-time rankings, with four games each with eight triples.
There should be no question that Mitchell is the best volume three-point shooter in Cavs franchise history. He is averaging over three made triples per game — making him far and away the leader in franchise history. The closest player to him in terms of volume is his backcourt mate Garland, as well as injured sharpshooter Max Strus, both of whom have made 2.3 threes during their stint with the team to this point.
Three points are worth more than two, and Mitchell has certainly embraced this mathematical reality. And with the Cavs missing key contributors, they needed every bit of his scoring explosion on Sunday night so they could climb above the .500 mark.
Donovan Mitchell remains Cavs’ best player
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Some fans are wondering when Evan Mobley would be taking over the mantle of being the Cavs’ best player. Mobley blossomed into a much more well-rounded force last year, thanks to the improvements he made in his three-point shot, but at the end of the day, it seems as though he’s destined to be more of a play-finisher type of star — someone like Anthony Davis, for example.
But every aspiring championship team always needs ballhandling type of star whom they can rely on to get buckets when it matters the most. Mitchell remains that player for the Cavs, if Sunday night was any indication.
Cleveland will be getting a lengthy break, as their next game will be on Wednesday night still when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers.
