Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 43 points to fuel the host Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Mitchell made 17 of 27 shots from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range to eclipse his previous season-high point total of 41, set during the Cavaliers’ 132-123 overtime win at Boston on Oct. 28.
Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen scored 22 of his 24 points in the first half and finished with 11 rebounds in his return from a five-game absence due to a back injury.
Darius Garland added 21 points and 11 assists to propel Cleveland to its eighth win in the last 11 games overall and improve to an NBA-best 11-1 at home this season.
Former Cavaliers star LeBron James collected 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt. Thomas Bryant scored 19 points and Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder each added 16 in a losing effort.
Western Conference Player of the Week Anthony Davis of the Lakers scored just one point in eight minutes before leaving the game with flu-like symptoms.
Los Angeles didn’t do itself any favors with its performance from 3-point range. It made just 6 of 36 attempts from beyond the arc.
Schroder sank a mid-range jumper to forge a tie at 92-92 before Mitchell ignited a 9-0 surge. He had a driving layup and a 3-pointer before setting up Allen and Cedi Osman for short jumpers.
The Lakers closed the deficit to five before Mitchell effectively put the game out of reach. He converted a three-point play, sank a pair of free throws, set up Caris LeVert’s layup and drained a 3-pointer to push the Cavaliers’ lead to 113-98 with 3:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland scored 15 of the final 19 points of the first half to seize a 57-49 lead at intermission. Mitchell had 11 of those points for the Cavaliers before Garland capped the run by draining a 3-pointer with 25.6 seconds to play.
–Field Level Media
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