NBA Notes: Cavs, Donovan Mitchell, Pacers, Garrison Mathews, Bulls

Cavaliers

Donovan Mitchell bailed out the Cavaliers on Friday, pouring in 48 points to lift Cleveland past the Wizards, 130-126, in a game that got far more uncomfortable than it should have.

Mitchell scored 24 of those points in the fourth quarter, turning a 15-point hole into a much-needed win over a Washington team that entered at 3-20.

“You’re playing a team that’s 3 and whatever, and you’re down 15, you can kind of tuck your tails and kind of give in, right?” Mitchell told reporters. “But we found a way.”

Mitchell’s fourth-quarter outburst was the highest-scoring quarter by any player in the NBA this season, topping the 22 points Magic guard Jett Howard dropped against Boston on Nov. 23.

It was a reminder of how thin the margin can be when focus slips, and how much Cleveland still relies on Mitchell to close.

Pacers

The Pacers shuffled the back end of their roster this week, keeping Garrison Mathews while waiving Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Coach Rick Carlisle said the decision came down to spacing and pressure on defenses.

“We know he has gravity,” Carlisle told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “He’s a guy who has to be accounted for on a scouting report.”

Carlisle said Mathews fills a specific need as a shooter who cannot be ignored, comparing that effect to players he coached in the past who reshaped the floor simply by being out there.

“If you don’t guard him, he’s gonna score,” Carlisle said. “It’s pretty simple.”

Bulls

The Bulls have taken some heat for standing pat on draft night, particularly after the Pelicans made a surprise deal with Atlanta to move up and select Maryland big man Derik Queen.

New Orleans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars later suggested other teams, including Chicago, were in the mix.

A high-ranking Bulls official pushed back on that version of events, telling Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Pelicans never contacted Chicago about a trade.

Had they done so, the Bulls would have agreed to the deal, according to the official — leaving Chicago frustrated by the narrative but unchanged in its approach.