CLEVELAND — Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Mitchell made history at the beginning of last week with his historic 71 point performance against the Chicago Bulls. He scored or assisted on 99 of the Cavaliers' 145 points, the second highest mark in NBA history for a single game behind a basketball player you may have heard before, Wilt Chamberlain. The three-time NBA All-Star also recorded the highest assist total in a 70-point game (11) and was the key cog in engineering a 4th quarter comeback that saw the Cavs win in overtime.
The 71-point performance by Mitchell shattered the Cavaliers' single game scoring record previously co-held by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving (57), while scoring 55 of his points after halftime.
And that was only the first game of the week.
The Cavaliers went 3-0 in games that Mitchell played in last week in which he averaged 37.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists. He shot 53% from the field and 86.1% from the free throw line.
Mitchell was the only player in the Eastern Conference to average at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists over the week. He scored at least 20 points in all three of his games, making him the easy choice for Player of the Week.
The Cleveland theme continued in the Player of the Week award over in the Western Conference as former Cavalier LeBron James was given the honors for the West. LeBron has helped the Lakers climb up from the cellar of the Western Conference standings, winning their last five games.