PARIS – Donovan Mitchell was the star of the show in Paris, scoring 45 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 111-102 victory over the Brooklyn Nets as the National Basketball Association (NBA) returned to France on Jan 11.
The Cavs’ victory was just one dominant performance on a day that saw the Milwaukee Bucks rout the league-leading Boston Celtics 135-102 and the Oklahoma City Thunder crush the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77.
Mitchell, a four-time NBA All-Star, added six assists and four steals and said he loved his Paris experience – and would like to repeat it at the Olympic Games later in 2024.
“Definitely I’d love to come back and play in the Olympics,” the American said. “This is a very electric basketball city. Just being able to see this experience, to be a part of it and do it with the NBA, do it with my teammates – incredible.
“I’ve had a lot of fun and I’m glad we got the win as well.”
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Mitchell’s aggressive approach “set the tone for everybody” on the team. “I thought Donovan was phenomenal at giving the audience and us what they came to see and what we needed to win the game,” he added.
Mikal Bridges and Cam Thomas scored 26 points apiece for Brooklyn, but the Nets offered little resistance in a game that Cleveland led from start to finish.
Celebrities sitting courtside for the special France contest included football’s World Cup champions Kylian Mbappe of France and former Brazil forward Ronaldo, as well as retired England star David Beckham and retired French NBA legend Tony Parker.
The game was the NBA’s third regular-season contest played in Paris, with Milwaukee beating Charlotte 116-103 in 2020 and Chicago defeating Detroit 126-108 in 2023.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver, speaking before the game, said the league was “very likely to be back next year”.
In the meantime, he was looking forward to returning to Paris for the Olympic Games, where he expects NBA players to be a significant presence.
“We anticipate there’ll be approximately – based on past experience, 65 or 70 current and former NBA players who will be participating in the Olympic Games,” he said. “I’ll be back. We can’t wait.”
Back home, the Bucks were even more dominant, demolishing the Celtics in Milwaukee.
Reserve Bobby Portis and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo both had double-doubles, Portis scoring 28 and Antetokounmpo 24 and both grabbing 12 rebounds.
Damian Lillard added 21 points to help the Bucks notch just their second win in six games.
One night after a draining overtime victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in a battle of the league’s best teams, the Celtics started slow and never recovered.
Payton Pritchard led the team in scoring with 21 points.
“I think we did a good job just playing together,” Antetokounmpo said of the Bucks, who had lost four of their last five.
“Today we were able to come out here to play hard, move the ball... We were aggressive defensively. We set the tone the first minute.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, with his team (29-9) still leading the Bucks (26-12) in the Eastern Conference, said he was confident the game was an anomaly. “I trust our character, I trust our team,” he said. “Things like this happen.”
The trend of lopsided victories continued in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder’s 62-point margin of victory tied for the fifth-largest in NBA history.
Oklahoma City themselves suffered the biggest defeat ever in the NBA, a 73-point loss to Memphis in December 2021.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and Jalen Williams added 21 for the Thunder, who were already up by 62 going into the fourth quarter.
Josh Giddey notched a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to help the Thunder break their previous franchise record for margin of victory of 45 points, achieved twice in the 2012-13 season.
With the victory, upstarts Thunder matched Minnesota for best record in the Western Conference at 26-11.
In Los Angeles, Bradley Beal scored a season-high 37 points, Devin Booker added 31 and the visiting Phoenix Suns used a fast start to earn a 127-109 victory over the Lakers. AFP
