Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers nearly pulled off the unthinkable Wednesday night. Down by as many as 28 points on the road, the Cavs somehow found a way to cut that head deficit down to only four points with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
The Cavs failed to complete the comeback, as they ended up losing the game, 118-112, but Donovan Mitchell spoke highly of his team’s no-surrender mentality.
“I honestly think we just found things that worked,” Mitchell said after the game (via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com). “They played well. They came out aggressive. We just continued to trust it and played with a little more, I don’t want to call it a sense of urgency, but I think we just played with a little more force. Realized we could get downhill, get open shots, make plays defensively and that’s what allowed us to put that stuff together.”
Donovan Mitchell led the torrid comeback attempt of the Cavs, pouring in 16 of his game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter in which he went 5 of 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. Evan Mobley also stepped up in the final period with 13 points in the frame before finishing with 23 points.
The loss to the Sixers was sort of anti-climactic for the Cavs, as they were on a seven-game undefeated run prior to Wednesday. Mitchell and the Cavs conclude the first half of the season with a 38-23 record. They will come out of the All-Star break with a home game versus the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 23.
