Donovan Mitchell went back to work after missing one game due to illness, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 139-132 home victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
The six-time NBA All-Star led all scorers with 30 points, four rebounds, five assists, and six three-pointers on 10-for-18 shooting from the field in 29 minutes of action. His performance helped the Cleveland Cavaliers halt their three-game skid.
“Welcome back, sick man… means a lot having the MVP (Donovan Mitchell) back,” Darius Garland said in his postgame interview. “We’re not even done yet. A lot of people still out, but we’re just getting started, though.”
“Hopefully, we just keep going with the same confidence that we have… As we got more bodies, we got more options out there. It’s starting to become Cleveland Cavaliers basketball again,” he added.
Cleveland Cavaliers News: De’Andre Hunter toughed it out vs. Charlotte Hornets
De’Andre Hunter gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a huge boost on Monday. Other than producing 27 points, five rebounds, and four three-pointers on 9-for-13 shooting from the field in 26 minutes off the bench, Hunter received praise for his resilience.
Hunter drew a Flagrant 1 foul on Charlotte Hornets center Moussa Diabate for taking an elbow to the nose with 3:12 left in the third period. He wasn’t supposed to return to the game because he was bleeding, but he shot the corresponding free throws and finished the game.
“He’s a tough dude. That was a heck of a shot he took. I guess if the rule is he doesn’t shoot the free throws, he can’t come back in the game, so someone ran back to the locker room and told him that. He miraculously recovered… he was great on both ends,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Hunter.
