CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell went on the kind of heater it takes to knock off the defending NBA champs, and because he did, his Cleveland Cavaliers are still the NBA’s best team this season.
For now.
Mitchell scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, including a streak of 11 in a row down the stretch, as the Cavs overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 115-111 Sunday night.
The Cavaliers’ win was payback for their first loss of the season (a three-point defeat on Nov. 19 at TD Garden, which snapped Cleveland’s historic 15-game winning streak), stopped Boston’s winning streak at seven games and prevented the Cavss from overtaking them as owner of the league’s best record. Cleveland is 18-3 this season, while Boston fell to 16-4.
Mitchell, who had scored just five points on 2-of-8 shooting through halftime, finished with six 3s and, fittingly, had the privilege of finishing off what became a strategic free-throw contest between the two teams by nailing two foul shots with 4.3 seconds left to put the game out of reach. He made all six of his shots in the final frame (four of which were 3s) and finished with seven rebounds and three assists.
Darius Garland shook off his miserable 3-of-21 outing from the last time the Cavs played Boston by scoring 22 points Sunday. Caris LeVert and Georges Niang added 13 points apiece for Cleveland off the bench.
The Celtics were missing two starters — NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown (illness) and Olympic gold medalist Derrick White (ankle sprain). Jayson Tatum scored 17 of his 33 points in the third quarter, when it appeared Boston had taken control of the game, but notched just four points in the final frame. Payton Pritchard stayed hot with 24 points off the bench and Kristaps Porziņģis, who missed the first Cavs-Celtics game, added 21 points.
Despite embarking on the second-best start to a season in NBA history, the Cavs needed a win on Dec. 1 to stay in first place. That says more about Boston’s determination as defending champions than any indictment of Cleveland.
Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson called Boston the “best team in the league” before Sunday’s game, not only as a sign of respect but as a measuring stick for a Cleveland team that has played the Celtics to a draw through two games.
“I mean, it’s just reality,” Atkinson said. “They’re champions and you have to respect that. I don’t think they’ve done anything this year that’s proven I’m wrong. Until someone knocks them off, they’re the best team to me.”
Another little nugget: Five of the first seven teams to start at least 12-0 went on to reach the NBA Finals. To become the sixth of eight to do it, the Cavs, we’ll assume, must advance past a meeting in late May with Boston in the East finals.
The Celtics dumped Cleveland in the conference semifinals in five games last season, but that Cavs group was depleted by injury and headed for a coaching change. Boston, meanwhile, has shown no sign of any championship hangover. It’s almost like the Celtics didn’t even touch the champagne last June.
“I think we have an understanding where we’re playing some good basketball but we know we can be better,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think that’s a healthy place to be with 60 games left.
“We haven’t had a bad practice yet, and I like the fact that we’re not peaking because there’s a lot of time left and we have to be able to work through those things we need to work on.”
The Celtics start a five-game homestand Monday against Miami; Cleveland continues its three-game home stretch Tuesday against Washington.
This story will be updated.
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(Photo: David Richard / Imagn Images)
