Donovan Mitchell still remembers the night the Chicago Bulls unraveled in Cleveland, and for good reason. The Cavaliers guard revisited the Jan. 2, 2023 game on the Cousins with Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter podcast, where he looked back on the performance that ended with 71 points and one of the most notorious collapses in recent Bulls history.
Chicago went into that game already irritated after a 103-102 loss to Cleveland on New Year’s Eve at the United Center. The Bulls had pushed late in that first meeting, but they never actually took the lead away. Two nights later, they got their shot at revenge on the road and spent most of the night looking like the better team.
The Bulls controlled the first half and took a 65-47 lead into the break. For a while after halftime, it seemed like they had settled things down. Then Mitchell started turning the game into something else entirely.
On the podcast, Mitchell downplayed his first-half work, but the numbers show he was already efficient, scoring 16 points while shooting 50% from the field on 10 attempts. Even so, the Cavaliers’ offense was being held back by a quiet bench, which shot 37.5% from the field on eight attempts in the first half. Chicago’s reserves, by contrast, were active and productive, going 61.5% from the field on 13 attempts.
The real damage came after halftime. Mitchell went on a second-half tear that turned the paint into his playground, slicing through Chicago for easy looks and forcing constant pressure at the line.
He shot 76.9% from the field on 15 shot attempts inside the paint in the second half and drew 18 free-throw attempts. That burst helped erase a 21-point Bulls lead, send the game to overtime, and push Cleveland to a 145-134 win.
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