The Cleveland Cavaliers are the story of the 2024-25 NBA season so far, as they’re off to a red-hot undefeated start. That hot streak figured to keep going when the Cavs took on a Philadelphia 76ers squad that is missing Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George.
However, the 76ers made things tough on the unbeaten Cavs all night long. After a back-and-forth battle over the first three-and-a-half quarters, Donovan Mitchell put the Cavs on his back and carried them to a win. After a rough shooting night, Mitchell scored 11 points in the final few minutes of the game, including a setback dagger that had 76ers rookie Jared McCain touching the floor.
After Mitchell’s heater essentially ended the game, fans on social media were in awe of the Cavs superstar’s heroics.
“Donovan Mitchell has literally taken over this game. By himself. All alone. To put the game away. Superstar,” one fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Another posted, “Let’s start the Donovan Mitchell is the best SG discussion.”
Mitchell has certainly vaulted himself into that discussion with his start to this season. In addition to leading the Cavs to win after win, Mitchell is averaging nearly 24 points per game despite not shooting the ball as well as he’s capable of. However, in the big moments, Mitchell has come up big over and over again.
Wednesday’s game was a great encapsulation of Mitchell’s season. He didn’t shoot the ball efficiently for most of the night, but he came up big and pushed the Cavs over the top when the chips were down. For the evening, Mitchell finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists on 9-for-21 shooting. Mitchell finished just one assist short of his first career triple-double.
The Cavs are now 13-0 after this win, with two winnable games on the horizon when they take on the Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets. If they win both of those contests, it will set up a blockbuster matchup with the Boston Celtics on Nov. 19 in NBA Cup action.
