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Donovan Mitchell’s 71 points in last Monday’s win against the Chicago Bulls was enough for him to garner Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 12 of the 2022-23 season (Jan. 2-8). pic.twitter.com/hZdStPkceZ
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 9, 2023
Overall, Mitchell finished the week averaging 37.7 points, 7.3 assists and 5.3 rebounds on .530/.357/.861 shooting splits in the three games he played. The Cleveland Cavaliers won each of those contests.
Mitchell’s 71-point outing is the reason why he won the award and rightfully so. It was one of the most impressive individual basketball games ever played while being the second most points scored in a game during the three-point era.
His other performances this week were pedestrian by his standards as he scored 20 and 22 points respectively on a combined 40.6% shooting from the field in two outings against the Phoenix Suns.
This is the second time this season Mitchell has been named player of the week and the fifth time in his career. This also marks the 66th time a Cavalier has been named player of the week. Forty-two of those previous honors belong to LeBron James who ironically was named Western Conference Player of the Week this week as well.
Overall, Mitchell’s play this season has been nothing short of phenomenal as he’s averaging 28.8 points and 4.8 assists per contest. He has been the primary reason why the Cavs find themselves near the top of the Eastern Conference standings at the midway point and is in line to be an All-Star starter for the first time in his career.
Correction: A previous version of this article wrongly stated this was the 63rd time a Cavalier has won player of the week. This was actually the 66th.
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