CLEVELAND (AP) 鈥� After not playing together much in the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ new big three came up big in their first major playoff test.
Donovan Mitchell continued his postseason scoring prowess, and James Harden and Evan Mobley made big plays on both ends of the floor as the on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
鈥淭his was a superstar game. Those three led us,鈥� Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. 鈥淭hey hit the big shots. I think James had four steals in the second half, so excellent defensive. Evan really good defensively and Don just made some out-of-this-world, incredible shots. That’s why they’re stars.鈥�
Mitchell scored 30 points, including four 3-pointers, and had seven rebounds, five assists and a steal in 37 minutes.
Harden added 28 points, but his biggest impact might have been on defense with five steals.
Mobley had a team-high eight rebounds and scored 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
It was the fourth time in franchise history the Cavaliers have had at least three players score 25 points in a playoff game. But Mitchell said it was Harden’s constant attention on defense that made the difference Monday night. Cleveland forced Toronto into season-high 22 turnovers that led to 22 Cavaliers points.
鈥淚 think the biggest thing with him is he鈥檚 obviously an-all world offensive talent, but the one thing that jumps out to you as soon as he gets here is the communication about defense,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚鈥檓 over here in huddles talking about, 鈥榃e could do this offensively.鈥� He鈥檚 like, 鈥楳an, we just need three stops in a row.鈥� He鈥檚 the vocal one on that.
鈥淲e have (the 2025) defensive player of the year (in Mobley), but when you have a guy like him (Harden) coming in and making defense the priority, that goes a long way for the group.鈥�
Mitchell had nine points in the fourth quarter, including seven straight as the Cavaliers built a 106-90 lead with 3:09 remaining. The All-star guard added some flair in the final minute with a 13-foot turnaround bank shot with 45.3 seconds remaining.
Harden was 9 of 14 from the field and had five rebounds, four assists and one block. He moved past Rajon Rondo for seventh place in career postseason assists with 1,139.
Harden and Mobley showed some teamwork on defense during the fourth quarter. Mobley forced Toronto’s Sandro Mamukelashvili to alter his shot in the paint, and Harden came up with the steal with 4:02 remaining, making it his fourth career playoff game with at least five.
Mitchell finished the sequence with a layup to make it 104-90.
鈥淗is communication of just talking while in the action is great and we need that,鈥� Mobley said of Harden. 鈥淚 know his tendencies now that he may go out to whoever鈥檚 next and stuff like that. And having those conversations prior that when you get into those situations, you already know what鈥檚 kind of about to happen and you come up with steals like that.鈥�
Harden has said the communication since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 4 has helped him get comfortable with Mitchell and Mobley, despite their lack of playing time together.
鈥淚 know we are behind. So I think what speeds that process up is communication and helping each other out,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think our communication during games, practice days, whatever is very, very important. That can get us over the hump.鈥�
Game 3 is Thursday night at Toronto.
鈥淚 think we did a solid job. There鈥檚 things we can clean up,鈥� said Mitchell, who has scored at least 30 points in six of his last seven playoff games. 鈥淲e just have to continue to stay mentally even-keel. They got it close, but we did what we were supposed to do.鈥�
The Raptors will try to contain the Cavs’ big three and get back in the series.
鈥淭o be honest, they鈥檙e a problem. They鈥檙e a problem and we鈥檝e got to figure out how to fix that,鈥� guard RJ Barrett said. 鈥淣ow going home, we鈥檝e got to get these next two.鈥�
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