Luka Doncic is leading the league in scoring, and as such he has continued to be part of every conversation listing MVP candidates. Donovan Mitchell is often left off of those lists unless he gets a call out as “those past those considered.” Given the disparity between the Cavs and Mavs’ team performances this season that difference stands out. Mitchell decided to force some attention last night when he went into Luka’s house and absolutely blew him out of the water.
Doncic forced up shots to get to 30 points again last night, but it took him 23 shots (he shot 39.1 percent from the field) and he was a -20 on the night. Mitchell scored 34 points on 65 percent shooting and was a +20 in the Cavaliers’ 105-90 win. That lifted the Cavs to 18-11 and dropped Dallas to 14-14. Can you put some respect on his name?
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A big part of Doncic’s inefficient night was the two-way play of Lamar Stevens. The day after The Athletic ran a profile on him he came to play, shouldering the bulk of the defensive assignment on Doncic and largely coming out ahead. Stevens was a game-high +22, dropping 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and adding 11 rebounds.
Here at the site Dan Gilinsky looked at three Cavs players who aren’t living up to expectations, doing a deep dive on their performance and discussing how to reset those expectations moving forward.
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The Orlando Magic won their fourth-straight game over the floundering Atlanta Hawks on the backs of a record-setting 50-point first quarter. The New York Knicks also kept their win-streak going with an overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls. On the other end of the positivity spectrum, the Golden State Warriors lost yet another road game to the Indiana Pacers, dropping below .500 overall for the season and losing Stephen Curry to a shoulder injury.
The most impressive performance of the night came in Denver as the reigning two-time MVP Nikola Jokic had 43 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and five steals while shooting an incendiary 85 percent from the field. The MVP race this season is still entirely wide open and night-to-night a different candidate makes their mark.
Coming up: The Cavaliers head home to Cleveland to prep for a tough back-to-back this weekend, with the rematch against Dallas coming on Saturday.