Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell on James Harden: ‘It always helps when he’s scoring 30’

Donovan Mitchell spent parts of Wednesday night drawing two defenders and letting James Harden handle the rest.

That’s a pretty good arrangement when Harden plays like this.

Harden scored a season-high 32 points in the Cavs’ 115-107 road win over the Knicks, offering a reminder of what this backcourt can produce when both guards are making the defense pay.

“I think he’s starting to get his footing and figuring things out, and whatnot,” Mitchell said afterward, via Basketball Network⁠. “It always helps when he’s scoring 30.”

The Knicks’ attention to Mitchell created opportunities for Harden. This time, those opportunities turned into an efficient scoring night, with Harden shooting 9-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

“I think the biggest thing is just, if they’re gonna blitz me and play one-on-one with him, really, it’s kind of like that pick your poison that we spoke of when he first got here,” Mitchell said. “And I think tonight was the epitome of that, right?”

That was the idea behind pairing them. Send extra help at Mitchell, and another accomplished scorer gets room to operate. Stay home on Harden, and Mitchell has more space to attack.

It hasn’t consistently worked that smoothly during the Cavs’ 6-6 start. Wednesday showed why they’re invested in getting it right.

“You put two on me, and he gets a look all while I’m standing over there in the corner, and let him rock out, and I’ll make the right play,” Mitchell said. “Tonight it was scoring, and on some nights it’s being a hell of a passer.”

Mitchell contributed 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Harden supplied the go-ahead three that broke a 101-all tie with 4:21 remaining.

After a difficult night in Charlotte and plenty of criticism, Harden gave the Cavs exactly what they needed against the defending champions. Mitchell sounded happy to give him the room to do it.

Also see: Dribbles: James Harden, Cavs answer criticism with best effort yet⁠