Donovan Mitchell gives Cavs what they need, even when shot won’t cooperate

Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have to shoot the Cavs to every victory. Some nights, getting everyone else involved will do just fine.

Friday offered a pretty good example.

Mitchell finished with 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the 119-95 home win over the Sixers. He made just one 3-pointer. But he gave the Cavs plenty of ways to keep the offense moving.

That’s what you want from your leading scorer. Especially on a night when the outside shot won’t cooperate.

As Mack Perry of Cavaliers On SI detailed, Mitchell scored the Cavs’ first six points, then went to work finding teammates. By halftime, he had seven assists. He didn’t score in the second quarter, but he was still helping dictate the offense.

Meleek Thomas got open looks. Thomas Bryant got a transition dunk. Evan Mobley got opportunities around the basket and beyond the arc.

Mitchell helped make all of it happen. Mobley finished with 22 points, Mario Hezonja added 15 and Thomas scored 12.

Now, nobody is suggesting Mitchell needs to stop looking for his own shot. Please. The Cavs need his scoring, and there will be nights when they need a whole lot of it.

But they also have enough capable finishers that he can make a defense pay for paying him too much attention. Friday, he took advantage.

The Sixers still cut the lead to two midway through the third quarter. So this wasn’t an entire evening of comfortable basketball. Mitchell kept attacking, got to the foul line and eventually buried his lone three late in the period, pushing the lead to 91-74.

He also committed four turnovers. There’s room to clean things up.

Still, the larger point is encouraging. Mitchell got the Cavs going early, helped teammates find a rhythm and supplied enough scoring when things tightened.

The Cavs will gladly take the big shooting nights. Having Mitchell steer them through the other ones is part of getting where they want to go.