Kyrie Irving during a matchup with the Charlotte Hornets on
Before January 2, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise leader for points in a single game. He scored 57 points against the San Antonio Spurs back in 2015. With 50-point games still being a rarity in today’s NBA, most believed Irving’s record with the Cavaliers would stand for a long time.
But Irving’s seven-year record was put to bed during the Cavaliers’ matchup with the Chicago Bulls in their first game to kick off the new year. Newly-acquired Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell put his name in the franchise’s history books after netting a career-high 71 points against the Bulls. After the Nets’ win over the Spurs, Irving reacted to his scoring record being broken by one of the Nets’ conference rivals.
“Records are meant to be broken,” Irving told reporters on January 2. “I’m happy that he did it.”
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Kyrie Irving Reacts to Donovan Mitchell’s 71 Points
Mitchell has had other scoring outbursts throughout his career, but this was one that most people could not see coming. Though Mitchell’s career night against the Bulls may have come as a surprise to many people, that was not the case for Irving. The Nets star said that he had a feeling the Cavaliers star was in for a big outing when the two were playing video games earlier in the day.
“What’s funny about it, tell Don I shouted him out, but I was on a call of duty a little bit before the game with Don. We were playing quads, and he was locked in. I can tell. He was locked in,” Irving added.
“We were locked into the game, but I had to get off early because I had to take a nap, and he had to get off early to take a nap. You just tell him he’s locked in. You know we had a kind of brief conversation, and you could just tell. It’s the little things like that. I lagged out. My Wi-Fi was very trash, so I had to get off.”
Donovan Mitchell Sounds off on His Big Night
There has been a slew of eye-opening stat lines in the NBA as of late. Last week Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic scored 60 points, and on the same evening that Mitchell netted 71, Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson dropped 54 points of his own.
But Mitchell’s scoring output against the Bulls was the most points scored in a game since late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in 2006, putting the Cavs star in elite company. Mitchell described his feelings after the game as “humbling”.
“It’s humbling. I’m speechless, to be honest with you when you say that,” Mitchell told reporters after the win via Bally Sports.
“I think for me, not only did I do that, but I did it in an effort where we came back and won. And it’s how we won. That’s really what, for me, it’s like man, this is nuts … I’m extremely blessed, humbled that I’m in that company, in that group.”
Donovan Mitchell on joining an elite group of NBA players to score more than 70 points in a single game. #LetEmKnow
It will be interesting to see who the next player to have a big scoring outing will be.