Donovan Mitchell wows the Cavaliers crowd in home opener | Jeff Schudel
Oct. 23—Midway through the second quarter in the home opener Oct. 23, backup center Robin Lopez fumbled a pass from Evan Mobley under the Cavaliers basket.
Lopez squatted to gain control of the ball and flipped a no-look shot over his shoulder from about three feet off the floor. The ball fell through the hoop and the sellout crowd in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse roared.
It was just one basket in the 117-107 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards, but it was symbolic of how the Cavaliers will attack their opponent from all angles.
PHOTOS: Cavaliers vs. Wizards, Oct. 23, 2022
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points to become the first player in franchise history to score at least 30 points in each of his first three games. He was far from the only hero.
In fact, Mitchell nearly became the goat.
Mitchell was exhausted. He played more than 39 minutes in regulation and all five minutes of overtime. He played 35 minutes on Oct. 22 in Chicago and scored 32 points to help the Cas beat the Bulls, 128-96.
#Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Donovan Mitchell scoring 37 points. "They weren't an empty 37. We needed all of them." Cavs 117, Wizards 107 in overtime. pic.twitter.com/qeUQwtyFfE
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 24, 2022
The Cavs led the Wizards, 74-59, with 6:55 left in the third quarter. The Wizards pecked away and cut the lead to 103-101 on a pair of free throws by Bradley Beal.
Mitchell turned the ball over twice in the final 41 seconds. His turnover with 27.3 seconds left was picked off by Washington's Will Barton. Barton tied the game 103-103 on a driving dunk and then Mitchell was long on a 26-foot jumper with 1.6 seconds left.
But in the end, the Cavaliers won because Jarrett Allen played like a beast defending the rim, because Caris LeVert stole the ball with 4:18 to play in overtime and then hit an 11-foot jumper to break the 103-103 deadlock.
Mitchell scored seven of his points in overtime. His driving layup with 1:43 left gave the Cavs the lead for good, 107-106. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw.
Cedi Osman was fouled on a layup and made the free throw for a three-point play. Ten players scored for the Cavaliers — six in double figures.
All-Star guard Darius Garland missed his second straight game with an eye injury suffered in the season opener. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff before the game revealed Garland's left eye is swollen shut. He has to hold the eye open with his fingers to see out of it. There is no timetable for him to return.
Garland's teammates picked him up. Garland walked to the floor when Mitchell was being interviewed after the game and hugged him.
Mitchell apologized to the crowd for the two turnovers and missing the three in the final seconds. The crowd was forgiving.
"There are going to be nights when I come up short and we lose," Mitchell said. "I was tired, but so were they. That's no excuse. I can't say, 'We're 1-2, but I was tired.' Now we're 2-1 and we pulled through.
"There are going to be a lot of games when it comes down to moments like this. Every huddle for us, it was like 'Next play,' one through 15 (on the depth chart), everybody was saying the same thing. When you have a group of guys that lock in like that mentally, it's great to see, especially early in the year. These are the games, when you look back on in April, if you lose you say, 'We let this one slip.' To come out with the win on this one was huge."
Mitchell said he was awed by the FieldHouse crowd. And it's only October. Wait until he hears the fans in the playoffs.
