Donovan Mitchell quickly put any doubts to rest about whether his left ankle was 100% going into the playoffs for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mitchell scored 30 points and tied a playoff career high with four steals and the Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 121-100 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
“He can get in the lane and finish and he’s a great shooter. Such a complete player,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Whatever we ask him to do, he’ll do it. He never shies away when we ask him to do the dirty work.”
It was the seventh straight series where Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in Game 1, tying Michael Jordan, who had two streaks of seven games.
“Just setting the tone. I have to be aggressive and see how the defense reacts to me,” Mitchell said.
Ty Jerome had 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for the top-seeded Cavaliers, who host Game 2 Wednesday night.
Darius Garland added 27. Garland and Jerome each had five 3-pointers and the Cavaliers were 18 of 43 from beyond the arc.
