Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson praised the Cleveland star after leading his team to a victory over the Pacers in Game 3.
The Cleveland Cavaliers season would have essentially ended if they had lost Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers. The NBA playoff history teams did not return to win from a 3-0 deficit.
Thankfully, Kenny Atkinson’s men didn’t have to try to break that record. Evan Mobley, DeAndre Hunter and Darius Garland returned on Friday night, so they finished their work and secured the victory.
It was a great team performance for Cleveland, but Tyrees Halliburton had all NBA fans agreed on how bad he was.
And just as Halliburton stood out on one side, Donovan Mitchell outperformed the elite NBA players in an electric 43-point performance in the evening.
Game 2 was not the best for Spida. Mitchell highlighted the main reason for the injury in the loss. However, there was no reason why this game needed it. He was noble in victory.
The 28-year-old scored 43 points and collected nine rebounds along the way. His display pleased Coach Atkinson for praise after the match.
“I thought he was amazing,” Atkinson told the press about his superstar. “And I don’t use that word. There’s very little. He was stunning in the way he controlled the game.
“Pass, make the right decisions, defend. Perhaps for me, it’s the best performance of the year. I don’t know what the numbers look like, but he played with a really great mindset… super high IQ.”
Halliburton has gained a lot of love from this series. Hitting an insane game winner and then celebrating with iconic moves tends to help.
However, the best player in the conference semifinals was the Cavaliers superstar. In Mitchell’s lowest score game, he scored 33 points in Game 1.
He has over 40 in the other two games. SPIDA averages 41.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game during this series. Cleveland needs to count that.
Game 4 is a pivotal moment. If Atkinson’s team can tie it down and go home for Game 5, they will feel they can turn it all around. At least they have the greatness of Donovan to rely on.