Donovan Mitchell Is DOMINATING The NBA With THIS!!!

Thanks Ridge Wallet for sponsoring this video. Check them out here: https://ridge.com/heatcheck

Watch the ingenuity here by Donovan Mitchell on this double screen. Obviously he’s supposed to curl here, but Mitchell is going to improvise and instead split the defense and attack along the middle.
As we let it go, you see that this catches the Knicks by surprise as he penetrates and engages Brunson away from the corner.
Then he makes the pass to Dean Wade who has an open look and knocks down the three.
And this is literally the same thing in the second half as you see the screens, and he splits it down the middle again, going up between the 2 Knicks big men for the monster dunk. Unbelievable finish.
He ended the night with
And this is exactly how his season has gone so far.
SCORING 30+ POINTS IN 5 OF THE FIRST 6 GAMES. A BLAZING HOT BEGINNING. So I watched every one of his possessions to break down just how he’s been dominating at the start of the season, leading the cavs to a 5-1 start. What up everybody, my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
Going through the footage, the biggest thing that jumps out is his decisiveness to attack and not settle for what the defense gives him.
This is exactly what happened in the 2 clips at the beginning and you can see it here as well.
In crunch time, a chance to ice the game- no settling for a stepback or an outside shot. Instead, attacks the slightly smaller defender, and a nice spin into a high percentage shot at the rim to seal the win.
Just moments before that, watch the determination to get to the ball even tho he’s initially denied by the good defense. But as I said Mitchell won’t settle, gets it eventually and drives inside for another finish at the rim.
And talking about attack mode this is another perfect example, as we stop it right here, you can see that although this is a 2 on 1, the big man is right at the basket.
Donovan does not care however as he will launch himself chest to chest against Luke Kornet and slam it in his face.
Check out the insane stats so far and notice the huge difference from last year. In fact, every single number you see here is a career high for him.
Now of course this is just a 6 game sample and 32 points per game is unsustainable, especially when Garland comes back from injury, but nevertheless this is an all around phenomenal start from Mitchell.
Moving on, I love when the star player moves without the ball and doesn’t just stand in 1 place stagnating the offense. Follow Mitchell right here as he will give the ball up and run an entire circle, getting 1 screen right here and the switch, and another slight bump here just enough to get him an open look which Donovan knocks down.
And on this play, this looks like a double screen for Levert to attack. But midway though Spida slips it and runs outside. The Knicks jump out on Caris, and meanwhile the movement of Mitchell allows him to get a nice look, the shot and the swish.
This is a play they like to run more often so here it is once again against the Celtics. The slip, the pass, shot and the bucket.
But despite the monster numbers that Donovan’s has been posting up, the key to Cleveland's 5-1 start is his playmaking.
Instead of 1 guy who can catch lobs off of the pick and roll, like Gobert was in Utah, now Mitchell has 2 of those guys. So there’s double the opportunity for that.
And with them being more mobile, and especially Mobeley having a far better offensive game than Gobert, there are a lot more opportunities on that end of the floor.
We all know that Rudy cannot do anything on offense besides catch alley oops, so this is a big upgrade for Donovan. If we even throw in Kevin Love in the mix who not only has the inside game, but can also get blistering hot from 3 you see how all of these plays from last night translate to assists for Mitchell and points for the Cavs.
And he’s always had good court vision, but it seems to be on another level this season, as he’s more patient and takes his time with his dribble, finding the perfect opportunity for a pass to the open teammate.
He burned the Magic with these crosscourt passes on 3 separate occasions and they all look pretty much the same starting off with a high pick on the right wing, and as the defense shrinks in the paint, he flings a laser to the corner for the open shooter.
And look at this casual underhanded no look rifle pass to Osman for another three.
And since he’s always had the flashy passes in his bag, here’s a behind the back to Osman once again, who decides to drive this time, and eventually is able to score inside with a nice move.
The Cavs are rolling at the start, even without one of their main weapons which is Garland. And Mitchell’s phenomenal performance certainly is the main reason for that.
When Darius comes back obviously Donovan’s numbers should go down, but on the flip side, Cleveland can become even more dangerous and this could be a very exciting season for them.