Donovan Mitchell scored 43 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 126-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday, with the Cavs clawing back to 2-1 in their NBA Eastern Conference semi-final playoff series.
Cleveland, the top seeds in the East after racking up 64 regular-season wins, had their backs against the wall after dropping the first two games at home — the fact that no NBA team has rallied from 3-0 down to win a series making Friday’s game a must-win.
Mitchell, whose 48 points in game two weren’t enough to ward off a furious Pacers comeback, was magnificent again, adding nine rebounds, five assists and a steal.
He had plenty of support with the return from injury of All-Star guard Darius Garland, Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley and key reserve De’Andre Hunter.
Garland, who missed the last four games with a sprained toe, scored 10 points and Mobley, who missed one game with an ankle sprain, had 18 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots as the Cavaliers defense limited game-two hero Tyrese Haliburton to four points.
Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers scoring with 23 points off the bench, but the Cavaliers couldn’t muster the kind of magic that saw them erase a seven-point deficit in the final minute to win on Tuesday.
Cleveland jumped to an 11-0 lead and never trailed. They led by as many as 15 in the first period before the Pacers tied it at 32-32 heading into the second quarter.
But Cleveland seized the initiative again, holding Haliburton scoreless on the way to a 66-45 halftime lead.
Indiana had cut a 24-point deficit to 11 with 7:49 left in the fourth, but Mitchell drilled one of his five three-pointers then fed Max Strus for another and the Cavaliers pulled away again.
Mitchell said it was about responding in a physical game that turned testy at times.
“It’s hard to blow a team out by 20 in their place — we saw that last game even in our place, it’s hard to keep a lead — it’s just hard in this league,” he said.
“They’re not a team that’s going to fold easily. We let one slip away at home in a similar fashion, so for me, couldn’t let it happen again.
“And it wasn’t just me. I know I scored, but we got stops, made plays.”
Cleveland will try to level the series when the Pacers host game four on Sunday.
Later Friday, the Denver Nuggets hosted Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City.
The Thunder, stung in game one on their home floor, responded with a 43-point rout to level the series at 1-1 and will try to maintain the momentum as the series shifts to Denver.
