Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance was a special night by a special player

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell joined an exclusive club on Monday night. A very sacred organization. One that, before his admission, only housed six other members – five of whom are Hall of Famers, with the other one potentially on his way if he continues to perform at his current pace.

The group we are referring to is the 70-point scoring club.

Mitchell scored 71 points on 22-of-34 shooting from the floor and 20-of-25 shooting from the free throw line en route to a 145-134 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls. He also nearly contributed a triple-double, adding 11 assists and eight rebounds to his stat line.

Mitchell’s scoring outburst marks only the 12th time that player has surpassed the 70-point scoring mark in a single game (Wilt Chamberlain is the only player to do it multiple times with six such performances).

What makes Mitchell’s bucket-getting extravaganza special is that it was the most efficient demonstration of a 70-point game we’ve ever seen, requiring fewer field goals (34) and yielding the highest True Shooting percentage (78.9 percent) of any of those twelve games. He’s also the shortest player (listed at 6’1) of any of the seven players in the 70-point club.

Earlier this year, we discussed how Joel Embiid’s 59-point outing against the Utah Jazz was one of the best regular season games ever based on Basketball Reference’s Game Score metric.

Well, Mitchell’s Game Score output against the Bulls not only managed to top Embiid’s, but it was higher than nearly every regular season Game Score output in NBA history.

Otherworldly scoring eruptions are no stranger to Mitchell. As you’ll recall, he famously averaged 36.3 points per game on 69.6 percent True Shooting over the course of a seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets.

Last season in an in-season NBA study, he was identified as one of the league’s most volatile scorers, further indicating his affinity for reaching these dynamic scoring heights.

When is the next time Mitchell will go nuclear and swing a game on his own? Who knows. But one thing is for certain. Mitchell is a special player, and Monday night he reminded the whole world just how special he is.