Donovan Mitchell’s late push pushes the Cavs past the Celtics

Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 35 points late in the fourth quarter, including 11 straight for Cleveland, helping the Cavaliers to a 115-111 comeback victory over the visiting Boston Celtics on Sunday.

Cleveland threatened a possible third straight loss when it fell behind by 14 points late in the third quarter, but the Cavaliers erased the deficit in the final period, laying the foundation for Mitchell’s breakout.

Mitchell started with a 3-pointer from behind before answering Jrue Holiday’s layup with another three-pointer to pull Cleveland within 99-98 with 2:14 left. Boston took a three-point lead on Payton Pritchard’s ensuing drive, but Mitchell struck again from distance to tie the game at 101.

After Jayson Tatum’s miss at the rim, Mitchell capped his lead with a floater that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good, 103-101, with 1:07 left. Cleveland took advantage of another Tatum misfire with quick ball movement, culminating in a driving Isaac Okoro hitting a cutting Evan Mobley for an emphatic dunk.

The teams exchanged free throws as the game progressed, giving Boston one last chance with five seconds left. After Pritchard made the first free throw to cut the deficit to 113-111, he rebounded his own intentional miss, but the officials ruled the ball did not touch the rim.

Mitchell made two more free throws to seal the win for Cleveland and end Boston’s seven-game winning streak.

Mitchell finished 11 of 21 from the field and made 6 of 11 3-pointers and seven rebounds. Darius Garland added 22 points and eight assists. The Cavaliers also got 13 points off the bench from both Caris LeVert and Georges Niang, with Niang’s 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point range helping Cleveland to a 17-of-36 performance from long range.

Tatum led the Celtics with 33 points, while Pritchard delivered 24 points off the bench. Kristaps Porzingis scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his third game back from a foot injury suffered in last season’s NBA Finals. Boston was without Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot).

Garland had 15 points, helping the Cavaliers to a 51-49 lead by halftime. After scoring 12 points in the first half, Tatum came alive in the third quarter, scoring 17 points as the Celtics held an 84-72 lead early in the fourth quarter.

–Field level media