On Saturday afternoon, the Cleveland Cavs got off to a strong start to their playoff run with a comfortable 126-113 win over the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their series. The Cavs were led in scoring in this one by Donovan Mitchell, who poured in 32 points on an efficient 11-20 from the field in the win.
With this performance, Mitchell recorded his ninth straight 30-plus point game in a postseason opener, which is two more than Michael Jordan, who is tied for second all time with seven.
Mitchell has certainly made a habit out of getting off to strong starts to the playoffs over the years, dating back to his days as a member of the Utah Jazz, and that trend has continued to his tenure with the Cavs, which thus far has been defined by postseason disappointment.
Last year, the Cavs were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, but ended up falling in the second round to the Indiana Pacers thanks to a combination of regression to the mean as well as tough injury luck.
This year, the Cavs didn’t have as strong of a regular season, but gave themselves a shot in the arm by trading for James Harden at the deadline, sending out Darius Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers in return.
Thus far, the move has paid dividends, and although there are understandable questions about acquiring Harden for the sole reason of boosting potential playoff success, the results on Saturday were hard to argue with against the overmatched Raptors.
In any case, Game 2 of the Cavs’ series against the Raptors is slated to get underway on Monday evening at 7:00 pm ET from Cleveland.