Donovan Mitchell is still the man against Toronto

CLEVELAND — Even though the Cavs are anything but a one-man show, the one man they've built around the past four years continues to put on a spectacle. Donovan Mitchell continued his fantastic start to the postseason against Toronto at Rocket Arena on Monday, scoring 30 points to help lead Cleveland to a 115-105 win and a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The series shifts to Toronto for the next two games with Game 3 on Thursday at 8 p.m. "We did a stellar job," Mitchell said. "Obviously there's things we need to clean up, but this was one of those situations where we knew they were responding and you have to give them credit for what they did. They made a run, got it close, but we did what we were supposed to do." In Game 1 on Saturday, Mitchell scored 32 points, marking the ninth time he's opened a playoff series with at least 30 points going back to 2020, the longest streak in NBA history. Monday was the 14th time he scored at least 30 points in a playoff game and they didn't come easy as the Raptors made Cleveland's superstar a clear focus on defense, but Mitchell routinely made them pay with circus finishes. "Donovan just made some out of this world, incredible shots," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. "The bank shot he hit near our bench, the shot clock winding down, that's why these guys are stars." While Mitchell took a team-high 23 shots, he had the benefit of both James Harden, who scored 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and Evan Mobley, who shot 11-for-13 with 25 points, to help take pressure off of him. Atkinson acknowledged that kind of balance would help keep everyone fresh throughout the game and take pressure off of any one person. Last year, Mitchell was frequently that one person as Cleveland's offense generally went as its star player did. But despite the strong all-around game, Harden had his eye to the future in looking for ways Cleveland could improve as it heads on the road. "Obviously, taking it a step further, whether it's him, whether it's me, whether it's the team, we can't put ourselves in that situation," Harden said of late possession shots. "If those shots don't go our way it's a different ballgame. That's the first step for me, he's capable of doing the spectacular. Big time shots from him, big time play from him, but for us as a team we have to do a better job of getting a better shot early in the clock." Mitchell's presence was felt throughout the game, scoring at least six points in every quarter. All nine of his fourth quarter points came in the final 4:13, beginning with a clutch 3-pointer that pushed Cleveland's lead to 102-99. That ignited a sequence where Mitchell accounted for nine of the Cavs next 11 points, culminating with a turnaround jumper to put the Cavs up 110-99 with 45 seconds left. "Obviously they were loading up on him a lot," Atkinson said. "Those shots were not open shots, they were crowded shots and mid-ranged shots. That's what the playoffs is about. You need guys who can make those shots. They had us stymied, I felt like we weren't in our flow. They got us into crowded spaces and he made some shots in difficult, difficult situations." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.