Donovan Mitchell Scripts Franchise History As Cleveland Cavaliers Cool Off Indiana Pacers to Trim Series Deficit to 2-1

Cleveland Cavaliers’ star guard Donovan Mitchell dropped 43 points, nine rebounds, and five assists to lead the side to a 126-104 blowout win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The win not only put the Cavs back in the series, but with his performance, Mitchell scripted a franchise record. He is now the only second Cavaliers after LeBron James to drop back-to-back 40 points in the playoffs. 

In Game 2 of the series, Spida dropped 48 points, five rebounds, and nine assists. Moreover, he is the first player in the history of the franchise to score 90+ points over a span of two playoff games. In Friday-night’s game, Mitchell was shooting 14-for-29 from the field, 5-of-13 from the three-point arc and 10-of-14 from the free throw line. 

Mitchell now has more 40-point playoff games than 99.6% of all players in the history of the league. In this series, the 28-year-old is averaging 41.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He would now become the fifth player to average 40+ points per game in a playoff series, and the first since Michael Jordan. 

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“We Haven’t Done Anything”- Donovan Mitchell As Cavaliers Register First Win of Semifinal Series Against the Pacers

Following the win, Mitchell was asked if he feels the Cavaliers are back in the series considering they registered a win and their three key players were back. He responded saying that they have won just one game and they need to do it again. 

The six-time NBA All-Star said, “We haven’t done anything. I mean, we won one game. You know we got to do it again. It’s been my message that I didn’t tell him we’re not celebrating. we’re not smiling. We came here to take two games and we did one.” The Friday-night clash saw Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter lacing up for the Cavaliers. Their return played a crucial role as the trio combined for 36 points, helping the team post 126 points on board. 

Mitchell also spoke about Game 4 and 5, saying that both the games are going to be the hardest games of the series. He said, “Understanding that the next one is going to be the hardest game of the series, and the next one after that is going to be the hardest game. so take it. take it for what? Take it. Take that for what it is and understand that, hey, we did it. We did a job and we gotta keep going.”

The Indiana Pacers pulled off two back-to-back upsets and secured an early-lead over the Cavaliers, who entered the series as favorites. The table-toppers have had a mix of inconsistencies in their gameplay as well as injuries which proved to be their biggest shortcomings against the lower-seeded Pacers. However, as Indiana stole home court advantage from Cleveland, Mitchell had made it clear that they aim to do it back in Game 3 and 4 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 

Earlier in Game 2, Mitchell dropped 48 points, marking his fourth career playoff game of 48 or more points. The Elmsford-born now trails only Michael Jordan with more such games (12).

Coming back to the next fixture, both teams will be back in action in Game 4 on Sunday, May 11.

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