Donovan Mitchell has season-high 45 as Cavs beat Nets in Paris،
PARIS — Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 45 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Brooklyn Nets 111-102 Thursday in the NBA's third regular-season game in Paris.
Mitchell had his 16th 40-point game in just two seasons in Cleveland. He added 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, joining LeBron James as the only Cavaliers with at least 45 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in a game.
He would like to join James on the list of U.S. men's basketball gold medalists when Paris hosts the Olympics this summer.
“I would love to come back and play in the Olympics,” Mitchell said. “This city is a very electric basketball city.”
Mitchell's fast start propelled the Cavaliers to a lead they would never lose and he scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, making four 3-pointers after going 0 of 6 from three, to prevent the Nets from coming back completely after cutting. a deficit of 26 points in single digits.
“We did some really good things in the second half, and his ability to put the ball in the hole was the difference,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said.
Caris LeVert added 21 points in Cleveland's first game outside of North America of the regular season, while Jarrett Allen had 12 points and 12 rebounds in his career-high eighth straight double-double. The Cavaliers won their fourth straight game, improving to 9-3 since December 16.
Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas each scored 26 points for the Nets, who matched their worst half of the season with 34 points in the first half and lost 12 of 15. Lonnie Walker IV added 20 points, providing scoring energy on the bench with starters Spencer. Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith are both ill and playing limited minutes.
The Nets' struggles prevented the NBA from putting on a big show in front of a crowd that included French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé and former NBA stars Tony Parker and Joakim Noah.
But better basketball is coming.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver noted that the United States, which has won the last four Olympic gold medals in men's basketball, could field a powerhouse team this summer.
“I think for the love of competition and for the love of this market, apparently every big American player in the NBA wants to be in it,” Silver said in a pregame news conference.
He added that the NBA plans to return to France next season, perhaps with the selected teams playing several games. Led by No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama, France had a record 14 players on opening night this season and became one of the league's most important markets, ranking No. 1 in Europe and in the Middle East for sales of NBA branded products. .
Mitchell scored the first six points of the game and Cleveland took a 16-4 lead. The score was 54-34 at halftime and the Cavs took their biggest lead when Mitchell's layup made it 60-34 early in the third.
“I think Donovan was ready for the moment,” Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff said. We talked before about how special this game was, what it meant for the NBA to select you to come here and represent the league and basketball on the world stage, and I thought Donovan was phenomenal at giving the crowd and us what they came to see and what we needed to win the game.
Cleveland's Tristan Thompson was ejected early in the fourth quarter for a flagrant foul on Nic Claxton after the Nets center dunk and taunted the veteran center.
The Cavs, playing without Evan Mobley (knee surgery) and Darius Garland (broken jaw), played the final three quarters without starting guard Max Strus because of right knee soreness.
