Cavs Top 3: Donovan Mitchell takes crown from LeBron James in Cleveland Cavaliers win over LA Lakers

The Cleveland Cavaliers saw Donovan Mitchell take down their former king in LeBron James.

As chants of “M-V-P” rang out from the Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse, Donovan Mitchell soaked it all in. Firmly at home with the Cleveland Cavalier faithful, Mitchell has entrenched himself as the new face of the franchise. Here he was, with yet another 40-point performance to his name, having taken over a nationally televised game against the Cleveland Cavaliers’ former MVP, LeBron James.

As James walked from the court, it became clear this was Mitchell’s team now, and that James was a distant memory growing further and further away.

It’s on Mitchell now to lead this team and with all due respect to Darius Garland, Mitchell is the Cavs leader and new king. His outing against James and the Los Angeles Lakers proved that. With Kevin Love getting in foul trouble early on, the rest of the bench was pedestrian at best, and even Evan Mobley was limited offensively, Mitchell had to take over.

The Cavs needed him to step up in a big way and he did. Dropping 43 points on crazy 63% efficiency from the floor. While his predecessor had 21 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, it was clear a shift had occurred. It’s Mitchell’s time and that was painfully obvious for any Lakers fan who watched the game and saw how pedestrian the Lakers looked without Anthony Davis. Davis left the game with flu-like symptoms eight minutes in and never returned, allowing for Jarrett Allen to manhandle the Lakers inside.

The Lakers, despite Allen and Mitchell doing work, kept it close and even trailed by just two heading into the fourth quarter. Mitchell scored 16 of his 43 in the fourth quarter alone and really took it to the Lakers.

While it’s only 25 games into the season, it’s clear that Mitchell is as the Cavs faithful claimed him to be; an actual NBA MVP candidate.

The Cavs ended up finishing off the Lakers 116-102, to move to 16-9 on the season, and they are now officially the best scoring defense in the league, unseating the Bucks.

Cleveland Cavaliers top 3 vs. the Los Angeles Lakers

1 Point – Darius Garland

38 minutes, 21 PTS,  8-18 FG,  1-6 3PT, 4-4 FT, 11 AST, +22 BPM

2 Points – Jarrett Allen

38 minutes 24 points, 11-14 FG, 11 REB, 3 STL, +21 BPM

3 Points – Donovan Mitchell

40 minutes, 43 points, 17-27 FG, 4-8 3PT,  5-5 FT,  5 AST, 6 REB +21

Cavs Top 3 Seasonal Standings

1. Donovan Mitchell –40 Points
2. Darius Garland – 27 Points
3. Evan Mobley – 21 Points
4. Cedi Osman 16 Points
5. Jarrett Allen – 15 Points
6. Kevin Love – 12 Points
7. Caris LeVert – 8 Points
8. Isaac Okoro – 5 Points
9. Dean Wade – 3 Points