Where Donovan Mitchell's 71-point game ranks in history

Is there a downside to discussing and appreciating Donovan Mitchell‘s 71-point masterpiece from a fantasy perspective?

Heck, yes.

The blizzard of asterisks.

Mitchell’s 71-point game contained an OT. So. Freaking. What. No asterisk.

Judging by this writer’s preferred metric for single-game fantasy assessment — Basketball Reference’s Game Score — Mitchell’s 60.80 now ranks third all-time. Kobe Bryant’s 63.50 (the 81-point game) ranks second.

Michael Jordan’s 69-point game on March 28, 1990, ranks first. Jordan’s game also contained an overtime period. Again… So. Freaking. What. It’s still the greatest fantasy game ever played. No asterisk.

(Yes, fantasy basketball technically existed in 1990. I know because I created my own version of it for my science project that year. Coincidentally, I went stag to Homecoming. No asterisk.)

In sports — fantasy and reality — a win is a win is a win. In sports statistics, a result is a result is a result. The purity is what makes it beautiful. But at times, this writer self-saddles with the guilt that Fantasyland has applied a meta-asterisk to reality.

I can walk from my house to the Rose Bowl in 10 minutes. I wade through annoying Laker Exceptionalism. But I get even more annoyed witnessing attempts to slap an * on their 2020 title.

Because last I checked, every other franchise in 2020 finished that season within the same bubble-based conditions. The Lakers outperformed every other team. It’s a title. No asterisk.

In 1961, Roger Maris hit 61 home runs (in eight more games) to break Babe Ruth’s single-season record. No asterisk. In 1944, the St. Louis Cardinals (at the height of World War II, with many MLB players fighting overseas) won the World Series. No asterisk.

One of the joys of sports statistics is its ability to compress the eras within the same perspective.

Example: the 2022-23 season is peppered with NBA-Jam flashbacks in the form of single-game outbursts. 2022-23 isn’t half-over, and it’s already logged six Game Scores in the all-time top 100.

But here’s the thing… Since Dr. Naismith hung his very first peach basket, only seven players have broken the single-game 70-point barrier: Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson, Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain.

The 70-point barrier is special. It compresses time. Just like how in fantasy, the 60-point Game Score barrier compresses time. Since 1984, only four players have broken that barrier: Jordan, Bryant, Mitchell and Karl Malone.

That’s the pantheon, the penthouse, the Mona Lisa-Guernica-The Starry Night wing of fantasy performances. No asterisks. Just sublime results.

A game is a game is a game. Each contains variables that give them character, distinction… or connection to other games across time.

I was sitting in the 20th row for Bryant’s 81-point game. Those 81 points snuck up on you. The first 40 were covert. You didn’t realize how special that game was until midway through the third quarter.

There’s a connective dynamic in Mitchell’s 71-point game.

I’ve watched it from beginning to end twice. But if you haven’t watched it yet, and only have an hour to spare? You’re fine starting at the 9:24 mark in the third quarter.

At this juncture? It’s DeMar DeRozan’s night. DeRozan hits yet another jumper to put the Bulls up 69-51. DeRozan’s Bulls are cruising.

Mitchell is still mired in a multi-game shooting slump. He’s managed a respectable 17 points. But it hasn’t been pretty. At 9:05, Mitchell attempts to answer with a 3 at the top of the key.

It rattles out. Again. Mitchell’s Cavaliers are sinking.

The moment it stops being DeRozan’s night? The moment Mitchell activates? It’s subtle. Fleeting. It’s at the 9:00 mark. Zach LaVine crosses over Jarrett Allen…to the level where Allen lands on his posterior. LaVine steps back for an uncontested 3.

Mitchell channels his frustration into charging at LaVine. He disrupts LaVine just enough to force a miss. But there’s something about the physicality of the moment that activates Mitchell.

That miss is where the game changes. That’s where Mitchell imposes his will, tilts the axis, and roars downhill.

Caris LeVert misses. At 8:26, Patrick Williams misses… then Mitchell grabs the rebound with that activated edge. Mitchell fires an outlet pass to LeVert. Takes off downhill. LeVert passes back. Mitchell drives the lane, looking for contact, gets little, and converts a finger roll for the layup.

It’s subtle. But the edge is visible. Yes, Mitchell’s just at 19 points. The Cavs are down big. But Mitchell keeps running off-tackle. Basically telling the defense exactly where the play is headed. At 7:54: a tough contested floater in the paint. 7:34: a court-tilting circus layup. 7:01: knifing a double-team to draw the foul for two free throws.

No asterisk. Those eight downhill points transformed the game. Threw a switch in Mitchell. Powered him to historic levels. (And most importantly…won the Cavaliers the ballgame.)

Two details render Monday distinctive: 1) Mitchell delivered 54 of his 71 points in 24 minutes, and 2) Mitchell turned it around with physicality, rebounding and defense.

One quality that connects all four players occupying the single-game penthouse suite? Their connective ability to inflict their physical will on a game at a moment’s notice. With Malone, it’s more blunt-force grandiose, but Jordan, Bryant and Mitchell all possess the same pugilistic gear.

Malone and Jordan supplemented their big scoring nights with a strong secondary stat: double-digit rebounds. But Mitchell’s performance stands alone in a singular way: his 11 assists.

Mitchell hit seven 3s. Grabbed eight rebounds. Scored those sublime 71 points. But those 11 assists do more than ladle on a double-double. They represent Mitchell’s ability to impose his will via facilitation… to get the team the W.

This is the statistical view I appreciate most. Factoring assists into a player’s point total. It means Malone accounted for 65 of his team’s total points. Jordan: 81. Bryant: 85.

Factoring in that six of Mitchell’s 11 assists generated 3-pointers? This means Mitchell accounted for 99 of the Cavaliers’ points.

That’s rarified. All-Time. That transports us all the way back to March 2, 1962. Landing Mitchell’s box score right next door to Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the ages… which included two assists.

Final score: Chamberlain 104, Mitchell 99.

No asterisk.