Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points and Evan Mobley had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers remained undefeated with a 119-113 win against the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
Cleveland continued the best start in franchise history with its 12th victory in as many games. The Cavaliers trailed by nine points in the third quarter but recovered to keep coach Kenny Atkinson unblemished in his first season on the Cavaliers’ bench.
Mitchell drilled seven 3-pointers and had eight rebounds. The Bulls shot 49.4 percent but committed 21 turnovers leading to 35 Cavaliers points.
Zach LaVine hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper with 5:06 left to tie the game at 106. The Cavaliers scored 13 of the game’s last 20 points.
LaVine sparked six Bulls players in double figures with 26 points. Coby White and Nikola Vucevic both followed with 20 points and Josh Giddey (18), Patrick Williams (13) and Ayo Dosunmu (10) were next.
Williams grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double. Giddey added eight boards and seven assists.
Darius Garland scored 17 points for Cleveland. Georges Niang, Ty Jerome and Caris LeVert added 12 each.
Dosunmu swished a pair of free throws with 4:26 remaining in the third quarter to stretch the Chicago advantage to 85-76, its largest lead of the night.
Cleveland responded with nine straight points over the next 1:33 to tie the game. Another pair of Dosunmu free throws gave the Bulls the upper hand again, but they never led after the 2:24 mark of the quarter as the Cavaliers closed the third on a 19-7 run.
LeVert contributed seven points during the surge.
Cleveland led 67-66 at halftime behind a 25-point effort from Mitchell, who went 9-for-15 from the field before the break. He twisted for a cutting, 360-degree layup as part of a 10-0 run early in the second quarter.
Five double-figure scorers helped keep Chicago afloat, with White (16) and LaVine (13) setting the pace.
Jalen Smith, who was coming off a 10-point night during Saturday’s win at Atlanta, missed the game for the Bulls due to illness.
Cleveland has won eight of the past nine meetings against Chicago.
–Field Level Media