At the start of the fourth quarter, the Pacers still had control of the game in Cleveland. But not for long. The symbol of this change in trend is a penetration by Bennedict Mathurin.
The Indiana rookie is blocked by Kevin Love and Donovan Mitchell catches him then puts his hands on the ball. Both players have swelling in their arms, neither wants to let go. The referees and their teammates intervene but neither Mathurin nor Mitchell, without saying anything moreover, yields.
Finally, after long seconds, it is the rear of the Cavaliers who comes out of this scrum with the ball. Nobody knows it yet, but the game has just changed.
“Don’t wake the sleeping beast and that’s what they did with Donovan”estimates JB Bickerstaff for thePA. “There was a lot of talk and that fueled his engine. »
In the last quarter, Donovan Mitchell will actually go up a notch by scoring 18 points at 5/6 to shoot, 3/4 to 3-pts, without losing a ball. His heat stroke and the strength of the Cavaliers defense, which deprived the Indiana troops of baskets for almost six minutes, will sink the Pacers.
“I would have liked to be more physical on him. He was already on pace when I got on top of him. I had to cut him off his pace and I wasn’t able to do that.” regrets Aaron Nesmith for theIndy Star. “It was spectacular, what more can I say”, comments Rick Carlisle. “His actions were breathtaking. »
After his 34 points against the Mavericks, the former Jazz was even stronger with 41 units at 14/24 to shoot, 8/15 at 3-pts, two points from his season record, which dates back ten days. against the Lakers.
“I love playing here,” explains the hero of the game. “We were a little tired so I tried to do my best for the team. »
| Donovan Mitchell | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | UTH | 79 | 33 | 43.7 | 34.0 | 80.5 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 20.5 |
| 2018-19 | UTH | 77 | 34 | 43.2 | 36.2 | 80.6 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 23.8 |
| 2019-20 | UTH | 69 | 34 | 44.9 | 36.6 | 86.3 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 24.0 |
| 2020-21 | UTH | 53 | 33 | 43.8 | 38.6 | 84.5 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 26.4 |
| 2021-22 | UTH | 67 | 34 | 44.8 | 35.5 | 85.3 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 25.9 |
| 2022-23 | KEY | 25 | 37 | 50.2 | 42.9 | 89.3 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 0.4 | 29.2 |
| Total | 370 | 34 | 44.5 | 36.6 | 83.8 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 24.2 | |
