Shooting guard Donovan Mitchell extended his dazzling start to the season with the Cleveland Cavaliers leading Sunday’s 121-108 victory over the New York Knicks, as champions Golden State Warriors recorded a fourth defeat to the Detroit Pistons in NBA.
Mitchell, who was traded by Jazz in one of the biggest deals of the off-season, added 38 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists and 8 triples in 38 minutes of play on Sunday.
The explosive 26-year-old shooting guard surpassed 30 points in five of his first six games with the Cavaliers, a score no one has achieved with a new team since Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.
Mitchell’s stunning performance led the Cavaliers to a five-game winning streak despite starting point guard Darius Garland being sidelined with injury.
Veteran Kevin Love resurfaced scoring 29 points and 8 3-pointers off the bench while shooting guard Caris LeVert, who had scored 41 points on Friday against the Boston Celtics, this time stayed down to 1 point with a 0/9 shooting statistic.
For the Knicks (3-3), who remain winless outside New York, point guard Jalen Brunson and French shooting guard Evan Fournier each scored 16 points.
In Detroit, the Warriors suffered an unexpected 128-114 defeat to the Pistons, who added their second win of the season.
Star Stephen Curry scored 32 points and shooting guard Jordan Poole 30, 18 of them in an explosive third quarter.
Poole, joined by Klay Thompson, reserved as a precaution, scored 12 points in just 52 seconds in a dazzling sequence of three triples, two-pointers and free throws.
Poole’s winning streak reduced the Warriors’ disadvantage to seven points (79-72), but the defending champions were unable to complete the comeback and watched with concern as Curry needed to be treated in the locker room for an issue to the neck.
