Donovan Mitchell is crediting a very unlikely source for his 71-point game a few years back.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star Mitchell appeared this week on the “Cousins” podcast with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. During the episode, Mitchell touched on his 71-point outburst against the Chicago Bulls in 2023.
Mitchell made the surprising revelation that his big performance was fueled by alcohol. The seven-time All-Star noted that the game took place after New Year’s (on Jan. 2) and that he had partaken in some adult beverages the night before.
“We played them on New Year’s Eve,” said Mitchell. “Then we had New Year’s in Cleveland. Then we played the next day. Now I will say this. I’ve never drank before a game in my life. It was New Year’s. So I did have a drink, a few drinks the night before the game.
“Never done that in my career,” Mitchell added. “Haven’t done it since. So I tell people like that was probably what, you know, allowed me to have the night I had.”
That night against Chicago, Mitchell scored 71 on 22/34 shooting from the field in a 145-134 overtime victory for Cleveland. It tied for the 10th-highest scoring game in NBA history and well eclipsed Mitchell’s previous career high of 57 points set in 2020.
Mitchell, 29, is indeed known as one of the highest volume-scoring guards in the league today. But interestingly enough, the NBA might have known that something was up with Mitchell as they actually gave him an unwelcome surprise the morning after.
