Cleveland talisman Mitchell finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in what Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson later described as his best performance of the season.
Sunday’s victory means Cleveland have reached 60 wins in a season for the first time since the 2009-2010 campaign, and for only the third time in franchise history.
More significantly, the win leaves Cleveland four-and-a-half games clear of NBA champions Boston in the race for the number one seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs with just seven regular season fixtures remaining.
Cleveland coach Atkinson said reaching 60 wins was beyond his expectations at the start of the campaign following a 48-victory season in 2023-2024.
“I didn’t expect 60 wins,” Atkinson said. “My internal goal was ‘Can we improve from last year?’ That was kind of where my mind was. But for this team to take it to another level and kind of shatter that says a lot. And we’re not done – we can still add to that.
“But we’ve got to celebrate this,” he continued. “It’s not the end goal, but we should take a deep breath and celebrate 60 wins. It’s so hard to do in this league. I’m really happy for the guys today.”
Mitchell received offensive support from Jarrett Allen with 25 points, while Evan Mobley added 22 and Darius Garland 19.
But Atkinson reserved special praise for Mitchell, who was immense at both ends of the court for Cleveland, with four steals in addition to his points tally.
“He’s at that kind of maturity and mental level where he can manipulate the game how he wants it,” Atkinson said of the 28-year-old six-time NBA All-Star.
“I would argue that this was probably his best all around game all year,” he added. “He did everything tonight and showed great leadership.”
The defeat left the Clippers in eighth position in the Western Conference, where they are locked in a ferocious dog-fight with Golden State and Minnesota for an automatic ticket into the playoffs.
The Clippers are on 42-32 – the same record as the seventh-placed Timberwolves – with the Warriors sixth on 42-31 heading into the final two weeks of the season.
The top six teams in the Western Conference advance to the playoffs while teams ranked from seventh to 10th play a mini-tournament to determine the final two playoff slots. (AFP)
