Donovan Mitchell tried everything to advance the Cavaliers to the conference semifinals. But the Cleveland guard was too alone, his 50 points not being enough against a more balanced Magic team…
“He was on a roll but the other guys weren’t achieving much” recalls Jamahl Mosley. “Nobody overreacted (to Donovan Mitchell’s performance). He is a very, very special player. Scoring 50 points with just three 3-pointers is very special. But we have the ability not to overreact and not to panic about what happens, because we continued to share the ball, to move it, to trust each other. »
Donovan Mitchell thus scored his team's last 22 points, the second longest such streak in the last 25 years. Above all, no other Cavaliers player scored in the last 14 minutes of the match…
More than 50% of his team's points
“Everything they tried to take us out of the match, to make us uncomfortable, we responded” explains Jalen Suggs. “We didn't want it to end here and I think we all found a certain comfort in all of this. To understand the pressure there is in this match. It was just another game for all of us. »
With his 50 points, out of his team's 96, Donovan Mitchell is the first player, since Michael Jordan's Game 6 of the 1998 Finals, to score more than 50% of his team's points in a match that can end a series!
The Utah alum says he took what the game gave him, urging his teammates to take more 3-pointers, attack the paint more and put more pressure on the rebound.
“But it’s over now. Everything we did for six games is in the past now.” he recalls. “It’s just about desperation and willpower. It's going to be like tonight, we'll have to find ways to attack relentlessly. But I have no doubt that we will rise to the occasion. »
See you on Sunday, at 7:00 p.m. (French time) for Game 7, to be sure!
