Donovan Mitchell scored 43 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a crucial 126-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday, as the Denver Nuggets beat Oklahoma City in an overtime thriller.
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 as the Cavs clawed back to 2-1 in the best-of-seven conference semi-final.
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 defence 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. But for me, just trying to be the aggressor.
“And it wasn’t just me,” he added. “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.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Justin Casterline/Getty Images
