Winners and Losers: Cavs vs Pistons Game 4 – Donovan Mitchell drops 43 points

WINNER – First Quarter Harden

You can’t ask for a much better start than that. Cleveland lost both games in Detroit largely because of their slow starts. James Harden made sure that no matter what happened tonight, the Cavs wouldn’t leave with that same feeling. Harden opened the game on fire. He scored 11 points in the first four minutes, banging three-pointers and even racking up two steals during that stretch. The Cavs defense was successful early on, and Harden surprisingly played a key role in setting that tone. Sadly, that hot start didn’t spread to the rest of the team (or the rest of the quarter). Cleveland went cold once Harden went to the bench, somehow shooting just 30% from the floor and ending the quarter down by three points.

LOSER – The Caris LeVert Wheel

Cavs fans will be familiar with this. But in case you’re not, the ‘LeVert Wheel’ refers to the idea that on any given night, LeVert will play like any number of former players. For instance, sometimes he’s Michael Jordan, other times he’s closer to Alonzo Gee. The wheel landed on Jordan tonight. LeVert had confidence early. His first few jumpers hardly even touched the net. Shot after shot went through the basket as LeVert worked his way to 17 points on 7-12 shooting in the first half. All the while, he gave Donovan Mitchell fits defensively and forced several turnovers on various Cavs drives, including one where he stripped the ball out of bounds off Evan Mobley’s knee. That type of support from a role player can be enough to steal a game on the road.

WINNER – Donovan Mitchell

We’ve already talked a bit about Mitchell. But he took so many lumps throughout the first round, I think it’s worth focusing on him one more time. This whole thing was built around Mitchell. Maybe not originally. The Cavs probably thought that Mobley would have been their best player by now when they first traded for Mitchell. But as Mitchell blossomed into a legit First-Team All-NBA player, and Mobley’s development crawled at a slower pace than expected, it became clear who was the centerpiece of this team. The Harden trade cemented that. No more two-timelines. Only one. And that would be Mitchell’s. With all this in mind, it was alarming to see Mitchell struggle to start this postseason. No version of the Cavs competes for a title without a superstar leader in Mitchell. His inefficient scoring and questionable decision-making were a significant concern. That’s starting to change. Mitchell found life in Game 2. He carried that over for a monstrous 35 points in Game 3. Then, after a slow start to Game 4, he broke free for 21 points in the third quarter, matching LeBron James and Kyrie Irving for the highest scoring quarter in franchise history. Reminding us of why this team has the expectations it does, in the first place. “To turn it around the way he did, I’m not sure I’ve seen something like that in the playoffs,” said Kenny Atkinson after the game. A whopping 39 points in the second half tied an NBA record and brought Mitchell’s total to 43 for the night. It’s his eighth playoff game of 40+ points and his fourth as a Cavalier. His best performances give Cleveland a punch it can’t get anywhere else on the roster.