Donovan Mitchell staged a one-man show in the second half to propel the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 112-103 win over the Detroit Pistons in Game Four of the Eastern Conference semi-finals on Monday night.
Mitchell poured in 39 of his 43 points after the half – tying an NBA record in the play-offs – to level the series at 2-2 with Game Five taking place in Detroit tomorrow night.
He was disappointed with his first-half efforts and said he was not attacking the basket enough. “Not really trying to force it,” Mitchell said. “I understand that I’m going to get looks, and it’s going to fall at some point. Even if they didn’t, just being aggressive, more aggressive. But I’m not tripping. We were down four at the half.
“For me, it was just like, okay, now I have an opportunity to try to get downhill and then start going in.”
The Cavs trailed 56-52 at half-time but then went on a 24-0 run that flipped the game in their favour.
“Our starters hadn’t been great to start the games and start the halves,” said Cavs guard James Harden. “Tonight was a really good opportunity for us, and we did that. Start the game and start the halves, particularly on the defensive end. That’s what led to easy opportunities, whether it’s 3s or layups, rewarding our bigs.
“So, when we can be on the same page and get off to great starts like that to start the game or start the half, it’s a different ball club just because our energy shifts. That’s how it has to be from here on out.”
Bickerstaff furious with lack of foul calls
Harden scored 24 points and added 11 assists to overcome a Pistons team that left Cleveland frustrated with the officiating.
Detroit were awarded just 12 free throws all night, three fewer than Mitchell.
“It’s unacceptable. It is,” furious Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff said. “We didn’t do enough obviously to help ourselves, and I’ll start there. But ever since we came to Cleveland, the whistle has changed. There’s no way that one guy on their team shoots more free throws than our team. We’re not a settle team. We’re not a jump shooting team. We drive the ball, attack the paint.
“So, what was done out there tonight, it’s frustrating, but we can’t allow that to be the reason why, because we didn’t play well enough and play to the best of our capabilities.
“But again, you look at the foul count, you look at the disparity, and that’s hard to overcome, and you wonder the reason why. It’s interesting since [Cavaliers coach] Kenny [Atkinson] made his comments publicly about us, the whistles changed in this series.”
Cunningham ‘realised early on’
Cade Cunningham, who scored 19 points with six assists, echoed Bickerstaff’s complaints, adding: “I realised early on it was going to be one of those type of nights. I got hit on my arm early. I didn’t get a whistle. Everybody didn’t want to look at me after that. I kind of knew what it was.
“So just playing the game, we can’t allow it to get to us. That’s part of the game. The home team, you never know how it’s going to be. It’s going to be hard when you’re on the road. So just controlling our emotions, controlling what we control and playing the best brand of basketball we can play. That’s not why we lost the game, but I mean, I don’t know what was it? Twenty free throw disparity or something like that. I mean, it definitely doesn’t help.”
