Donovan Mitchell led from the front on Sunday as the Cleveland Cavaliers bagged their 60th win of the season with a 127-122 victory over the in-form Los Angeles Clippers.
Cleveland talisman Mitchell finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in what Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson described as his best performance of the season.
The 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.
Photo: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
More significantly, the win leaves Cleveland 4.5 games clear of NBA champions Boston in the race for the No.1 seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs with just seven regular-season fixtures remaining.
Atkinson said reaching 60 wins was beyond his expectations at the start of the campaign following 48 victories last season.
“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. 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, 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.”
The defeat left the Clippers in eighth position in the Western Conference, where they are locked in a ferocious dog fight with the Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves for an automatic ticket into the playoffs.
The Clippers are on 42-32, just behind Golden State and Minnesota, who both won on Sunday.
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.
The Warriors boosted their chances of claiming an automatic berth after thrashing the San Antonio Spurs 148-106 on the road in Texas to remain in sixth place.
The Timberwolves are in seventh after a stormy 123-104 win over the Detroit Pistons. The game was notable for a brawl in the second quarter which saw seven players and two coaches — including Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff — ejected.
The Phoenix Suns’ hopes of making the West play-in took a blow with a 148-109 loss to the Houston Rockets — and the loss of superstar Kevin Durant with an ankle injury in the third quarter.
Durant stepped on the foot of Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr on a drive to the basket and rolled his left ankle, dropping to the court in pain. He was helped to the sideline and did not return.
The Rockets, second in the West, were already up 92-57, unfazed by the second-quarter ejection of Dillon Brooks after he fouled Durant and would not let go, then berated a game official in the wake of the scuffle.
Jalen Green poured in 33 points to lead eight Houston players to score in double figures, while Devin Booker scored 28 to lead the Suns.
In the Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Hawks dominated the Milwaukee Bucks 145-124 to improve to 36-38, with Zaccharie Risacher scoring a game-high 36 points.
At Madison Square Garden the third-placed New York Knicks outlasted the Portland Trail Blazers 110-93.
Elsewhere, the Raptors routed the 76ers 127-109 and the Pelicans stung the Hornets 98-94.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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