Former Louisville star Donovan Mitchell guides the Cavaliers to the second round of the NBA playoffs

Since leaving Louisville after his sophomore season in 2017, Donovan Mitchell has blossomed into one of the best NBA players the Cardinals have ever produced.

Over the past few days, he added to that resume with one of his most impressive professional accomplishments yet.

Behind his game-high 39 points, Mitchell helped lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-94 victory against the Orlando Magic in game seven of their first-round series in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

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The win moves Cleveland on to a second-round matchup with the Eastern Conference No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. It’s the first time the Cavaliers have won a playoff series without LeBron James since 1993, three years before Mitchell was born.

Even in defeat, Mitchell was impressive. In Cleveland’s 103-96 loss at Orlando Friday night in game six, Mitchell had 50 points, his third career playoff game with at least 50 points.

His 89 combined points in those two contests are the second most ever for a player in NBA history in Games 6 and 7 of the playoffs, according to StatMuse, behind only Allen Iverson’s 90 points for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.

On Sunday, Mitchell scored 24 points and made eight of his 14 shots in the second half to help the Cavaliers rebound from a 10-point halftime deficit. Cleveland had trailed by 18 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter.

He’s now responsible for 23 of the 24 NBA playoff games in which a former Louisville player scored at least 30 points. The lone one he didn’t account for belongs to Junior Bridgeman, who had 32 points for the Milwaukee Bucks against the 76ers in the 1981 eastern conference semifinals.

A five-time NBA All-Star, Mitchell is in seventh NBA season, with the first five of those coming with the Utah Jazz before being traded to the Cavaliers in a blockbuster deal in September 2022. Mitchell’s teams have qualified for the NBA playoffs in every season of his professional career.

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Donovan Mitchell stats

In the victorious seven-game series against the Magic, Mitchell averaged 28.7 points, five rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.

During the 2023-24 regular season, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 46.2% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Donovan Mitchell guides the Cavaliers to the second round of the NBA playoffs