10 Takeaways from Cavs comeback win over Pelicans: James Harden and Donovan Mitchell dominate in clutch

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did enough in the fourth quarter to erase a 15-point deficit to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 111-106.

The Cavs found themselves down by double figures late, mostly due to their offense stalling out in the second and third quarters. Donovan Mitchell going 2-9 from the field in that span had a lot to do with that.

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For better or worse, the Cavs have gone as Mitchell has. They’ve struggled when he has, and they’ve won games when he’s excelled.

On the season, the Cavs are 21-9 when Mitchell scores 30 or more points and 12-1 when Mitchell totals 35 or more. Conversely, they’re 5-4 without him and 6-10 when he plays and finishes with 21 or fewer points.

That was the case once again. When Mitchell turned it around late, so did the Cavs. He provided 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, which included icing the game with an and-one layup with less than five seconds left.

Despite the strong ending, it’s fair to acknowledge that Mitchell is in a slump, particularly with his outside shot.

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Before February, Mitchell was connecting on 38.4% of his 9.8 threes per game. Coming into Saturday’s game, he’s been converting just 28.4% of his 7.3 three-point attempts per game since that time

I don’t believe this is something to worry about long-term.

Mitchell is an elite shooter. We know he will break out of the funk he’s in, and going 3-8 from deep with one of those coming at the start of the fourth quarter to help turn around momentum is a good start in doing so.

Additionally, he’s still finishing in the paint, which is still what he does best as a scorer. Since February — when his outside shot abandoned him — Mitchell has converted 69% of his looks at the rim (71st percentile) and 54% of his shots in the short midrange (71st percentile) while still getting to the line at a high clip.

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