CLEVELAND (AP) 鈥� of the Cleveland Cavaliers broke Michael Jordan's NBA playoff record Sunday night with his eighth straight game of at least 30 points in a series opener.
The All-Star guard set the mark with a layup that gave him 31 points with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers. He finished with 33 points in .
Jordan had two seven-game streaks of 30 points in Game 1s (from 1991 to 1993 and 1997 to 1998) while leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles.
Mitchell's streak began with the Utah Jazz during the 2020 playoffs 鈥� held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, during the COVID-19 pandemic 鈥� when he scored 57 points against the Denver Nuggets. That remains a Jazz playoff record and the third-highest-scoring performance in NBA postseason history.
Cleveland acquired Mitchell from Utah in September 2022.
Mitchell came into the game averaging 33.2 points in series openers, second-highest in NBA history for a player who has taken part in at least 10 postseason series. His playoff average of 27.8 points is seventh-best among players with at least 50 games.
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AP NBA:
Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
