Mitchell upstages returning LeBron
As a kid growing up in New York, Donovan Mitchell idolized LeBron James. On Tuesday night, he upstaged him.
Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points and Jarrett Allen returned from injury to add 24, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in James’ only visit home this season.
With Anthony Davis missing the final three quarters because of illness, the Cavs improved to an NBA-leading 11-1 on their floor, their best start at home since 2015-16, when James led them to a championship.
Mitchell, who has Cleveland fans dreaming of another title run, took over in the second half and scored
29 points with the kind of performance James had routinely during his 11 seasons for the Cavs.
“You always want to spoil the homecoming,” Mitchell said with a smile.
With Cleveland leading by 12 in the fourth, Mitchell buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to finish the Lakers. After dropping the shot, the All-Star guard strutted around the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor nodding his head as James helplessly watched.
“He’s Mitchell,” James said. “He’s a special kid.”
Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists for Cleveland.
James finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds, losing for just the third time in 20 games against the Cavs.
Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook added 16 points apiece as Los Angeles had its four-game winning streak stopped.
Davis went out after eight minutes with flu-like symptoms. He didn’t attempt a field goal and scored one point.
“It got progressively worse as the day went on,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “His temperature was 101 and some change. He felt too weak.”