Despite Donovan Mitchell’s 71 Points, Kevin Love Surprisingly Claims LeBron James and Kyrie Irving’s 50+ Games Were On Par With His

Kevin Love has been on the Cleveland Cavaliers roster for close to a decade now. LeBron James recruited him to the Cavs while he was set to make his return to the team that drafted him in 2003. In order for him to finalize that return, he urged Dan Gilbert and company to trade their number 1 overall pick, Andrew Wiggins, to the Timberwolves in exchange for Love. 

While he was in Minnesota, Love was averaging 26 and 12 for entire seasons and was everything a modern day frontcourt superstar would look like. Though, upon making his way to ‘The Land’, he was immediately placed into a tertiary role behind Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. 

This did work out however as the Cleveland Cavaliers won one of the greatest championships in NBA history in 2016 and made the NBA Finals 4 years in a row from 2015-18. Though, after James and Irving left Cleveland, Love was the only one left from the original ‘Big 3’ and he remains there to this day.

Also read: “Donovan Mitchell Knew He Was Locked In”: Kyrie Irving Channels His Inner LeBron James About Spida Breaking Franchise Record, NBA Twitter Reacts

Kevin Love on his favorite moments in Cleveland 

Donovan Mitchell just had one of the greatest games in league history against the Chicago Bulls. He dropped 71 points and record double digit assists, making him the only player in history with that kind of a statline. Only 3 players have recorded 70+ points in the 21st century and Spida is one of them. 

Kevin Love, who was witness to a bevy of incredible performances while teammates with LeBron and Kyrie, actually puts their scoring accomplishments at Don’s level. According to him, Irving’s 57 against the Spurs and LeBron’s 51 in Game 1 of the 2018 Finals were on the same level as Mitchell’s ‘once in a lifetime’ performance.

No particular order but these top my time as a Cav

Bron Game 1 2018 finals
Ky 55 vs Portland and 57 vs San Antonio
Don 71 tonight
Bron and Ky 41 a piece in game 5 down 3-2 2016 finals
Obviously my 34 point first quarter against Portland

What am I missing?

— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) January 3, 2023

Though, he did go on to admit that in his 15 years in the league, he had never seen anything as impressive as what he saw Donovan Mitchell do last night. 

Where do the Cleveland Cavaliers stand today? 

The Cleveland Cavaliers took that leap from Playoff hopefuls to Playoff locks once they traded for Donovan Mitchell this past summer. With him firmly at the helm of their offense as their primary offensive weapon, the Cavs look to be dangerous in all 3 levels of scoring. 

The 24-14 Cavs are 4th in the Eastern Conference and are also holding their opponents to the least amount of points possible at 106.9 per game. The only problem with their roster is that if Mitchell has an off night, they struggle to generate offense at a consistent level despite having Darius Garland.

Also read: 70-Point Games in NBA: Donovan Mitchell, Kobe Bryant and Devin Booker Have More Than Just ‘Excellent Scoring Outbursts’ in Common