Central Notes: Atkinson, Mitchell, Pistons, Trent, Bucks
The Cavaliers clinched a playoff spot with Thursday’s win at Golden State, which Donovan Mitchell called the “bare minimum” of what the team hopes to accomplish, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes in a subscriber-only story. With that out of the way, coach Kenny Atkinson talked to reporters about finding the best possible matchup for the first round.
“We’re thinking about it, what could be optimal for us,” Atkinson said. “You’d be lying if you said you didn’t think that. As we get really close now, you do start thinking about it. I haven’t told the team. I haven’t told the staff. Like, ‘Hey we want to play …’ But I think that’s my job is to think big picture.”
Pressed about whether he might be targeting a specific team or trying to get on a certain side of the bracket, Atkinson responded, “I think you gotta look at the whole thing. But again, that’s my job is to think ahead and think forward. Try to be smart about it. Obviously, the first priority is worry about us and our play. But there’s that space in your mind where you have to say, ‘Man, what could work for us?’”
The Cavs are currently fourth in the East at 48-29, one game behind New York. Three of their remaining five games are against non-playoff teams, starting with a home contest against Indiana on Sunday. Cleveland also plays fifth-place Atlanta twice, which could affect where the surging Hawks will finish.
Mitchell told Fedor that he doesn’t support trying to manipulate the playoff picture.
“You don’t want to play that game,” he said. “Just go out there and try to win every night and wherever we fall we fall.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Joe Vardon of The Athletic examines the Cavaliers‘ efforts to provide food for the team during road trips. The catered meals are available to the entire support staff as well as players, making them unique among NBA organizations. “I talk about the basketball stuff, but part of it is why I re-signed here,” Mitchell said. “When you have a team that, and it’s not BS food either, it’s like top of the top chefs making it in front of you, and it’s like gluten-free, dairy-free, all the right stuff … when you have a team that believes in nutrition as much as they believe in medical, and what you do on the floor, I think it shows the mindset of an organization.”
- The Pistons moved closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the East with Thursday’s win over Minnesota and helped their draft positioning as well, notes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Detroit, which received an option to swap first-round picks with the Timberwolves as part of a three-team deal to acquire Kevin Huerter in February, has defeated the Wolves twice in the past week. Currently that means the Pistons would pick 21st instead of 28th.
- The Bucks were down to seven available players when Gary Trent Jr. was forced out of Wednesday’s game at Houston with a hip contusion. Trent is listed as questionable for Friday’s home contest against Boston as the team’s injury report remains long.
- Eric Nehm of The Athletic provides a list of players for Bucks fans to watch during Final Four weekend as the team gets ready to make its first lottery pick since 2016.
Cavaliers Clinch Playoff Berth
The Cavaliers clinched a berth in the playoffs after winning at Golden State on Thursday, per the NBA (Twitter link).
Star guard Donovan Mitchell led the way with a team-high 25 points, with Max Strus right behind him at 24. All five starters were in double figures and big men Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen both had double-doubles.
It was a hard-fought victory for the Cavs, as the shorthanded Warriors battled to the end before coming up short. Gui Santos and Brandin Podziemski had 25 points apiece for Golden State.
Cleveland is currently 48-29, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons (56-21), Celtics (51-25) and Knicks (49-28) previously secured playoff spots in the East.
The Cavs were the East’s top seed entering last year’s playoffs, compiling a 64-18 record prior to losing in the second round to Indiana. The team has been much more up and down in comparison — Cleveland was only 22-19 at the halfway mark.
Obviously, the Cavaliers have played much better in recent months, going 26-10 over their last 36 games. Their hot streak actually preceded the trade, but the club has talked extensively about how acquiring James Harden ahead of the February deadline has brought new energy — and a renewed sense of urgency — to a team with championship aspirations.
As we noted earlier on Thursday, we already know the other six postseason teams in the East, but we don’t yet know which of them will make the playoffs outright and avoid the play-in tournament. Atlanta is in the best position to claim a top-six spot, as the Hawks are currently 44-33, the No. 5 seed.
Central Notes: Mitchell, Tyson, Harden, Toppin
On Saturday, Donovan Mitchell returned to action following a one-game absence from the Cavaliers’ lineup due to an eye injury, scoring 27 points on 23 shots in a five-point win. Jamal Collier of ESPN reports that Mitchell sustained the injury after colliding with teammate Evan Mobley during practice prior in the week to the game.
“He was having issues last game, like blurry [vision],” said coach Kenny Atkinson. “It’s not like a scratched cornea, nothing dangerous, but we got to let it clear up.”
Mitchell was dealing with the injury during the Cavs’ win over the Bucks on Tuesday, sporting a bloodshot eye. He went 4-of-14 from the field in that game, scoring 19 points in nearly 34 minutes.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Jaylon Tyson has been a breakout player for the Cavaliers this season, but a toe injury has thrown his place in the postseason rotation into limbo, Chris Fedor writes for Cleveland.com. Tyson exited Thursday’s game against the Bulls early with the injury and decided to leave the game rather than hurt his team by gutting it out. “It’s always difficult,” Tyson said, per Fedor. “I’m a competitor. I had a good opportunity today, so I wanted to be out there.” Tyson’s role has changed as the team added players like James Harden, Keon Ellis, and Dennis Schröder, but he has tried to stay ready and be productive in his minutes.
- Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is relishing having a second superstar in James Harden to pair with Mitchell, Fedor writes in a separate story on Cleveland’s Saturday night win over New Orleans. “It’s nice to have two superstars,” Atkinson said. “As poorly as we were playing, that’s a game maybe with a younger team or less experienced team, you would lose by 25 or 30 on the last game of the road trip.”
- After missing four months while recovering from foot surgery, Pacers forward Obi Toppin is back on the floor and trying to find his way to his normal game, writes Tony East for Forbes. Toppin said he was itching to get back on the court, at times getting shots up while riding around in a scooter. “We didn’t want to rush anything, but we still wanted to get out a couple of games just so I’m not going into the summer wondering how it’s going to feel when I’m out there playing real basketball,” the athletic 6’8″ forward said. “So that’s what we’re doing now and everything’s been good.” East notes that it’s unusual for a player to miss 50-plus games and then come back before the end of the year with no playoff berth on the horizon. But Toppin, who is averaging 9.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game this season, is doing his best to hit the offseason running in preparation for a bounce-back 2026/27.
Injury Notes: Mitchell, Hart, Edwards, Isaac, Carter
Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was downgraded from questionable to out ahead of Thursday’s matchup at Chicago, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The 6’2″ combo guard is dealing with a left eye contusion and said his vision was obstructed after Tuesday’s win in Milwaukee, per Fedor (Twitter link).
“Can’t really see out of my left eye,” Mitchell said. “It was tough — tonight. It is what it is. I was still able to get to the free throw line. Was still able to make plays. My biggest thing was like, I may not have it scoring wise, but what else am I doing to help?”
Second-year wing Jaylon Tyson got the starting nod for Cleveland on Thursday with Mitchell sidelined.
Here are few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Knicks guard/forward Josh Hart has been ruled out of Friday’s game at Brooklyn due to patellofemoral pain syndrome in his right knee, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link). As Jared Schwartz of The New York Post notes (via Twitter), Hart missed a couple of games last week because of knee soreness, but that was to his left knee, not his right. Patellofemoral pain syndrome, also known as runner’s knee, is the same issue which has prevented Stephen Curry from playing for several weeks, though there’s no indication Hart’s injury is that severe.
- Hart and Curry aren’t the only NBA players battling runner’s knee. The Timberwolves announced today (via Twitter) that Anthony Edwards, who is out one-to-two weeks due to right knee inflammation, also has patellafemoral pain syndrome in that same knee. The updated diagnosis won’t impact the star guard’s projected return timeline, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The Magic were shorthanded in the frontcourt for Thursday’s game at Charlotte, as Wendell Carter Jr. (bruised left rib) and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) were both ruled out, tweets Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. As Beede writes in a full story, Isaac was relieved his knee injury, which he suffered last Thursday, wasn’t more serious. The 28-year-old previously missed two-and-a-half seasons with a torn ACL in the same knee. “It sucked,” Isaac said Tuesday. “It was tough. Based on what I felt, it was like an ‘Oh man, not again’ type of moment. So, I kind of just tried to manage my expectations when I (was) hearing from the doctor, but gratefully, they said it’s just a sprain, and that’ll be something I can come back from this season.” Isaac’s return isn’t imminent, Beede adds — the veteran big man won’t start ramping up his activity until next week. “I’m really glad it wasn’t something worse,” Isaac said. “So, I just have to manage this sprain and get better. Just wait until it calms down a little bit with the inflammation and the pain, and then slowly work back.”
Central Notes: Harden, Mitchell, Allen, Buzelis, Potter
Making a major in-season trade can sometimes disrupt a team’s chemistry. For the Cavaliers, adding James Harden has been a breath of fresh air, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
“They are two guys that are hungry to take that next step,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Harden and fellow star guard Donovan Mitchell. “They’ve kind of hit it off. Been seamless, really. Two guys that are so passionate about the game. They’re both hoop junkies.
“Usually when you have that kind of synergy it goes well. With them, I haven’t seen any misunderstandings or ‘You should have went there.’ They’ve been pretty locked in on the court and off the court. Couldn’t have gotten better so far.”
The only hiccup in the Harden-Mitchell pairing to this point has been injuries — Mitchell will miss his fourth straight game on Tuesday vs. Detroit because of a right groin strain, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press, while Harden will be active as he plays through a fractured right thumb.
Center Jarrett Allen, whose excellent play over the past month actually preceded Harden’s arrival, said the former MVP has helped him reach a new level.
“The confidence is renewed,” Allen said. “When big changes happen like that, your view shifts. You have more confidence in yourself. … I’m just finding my rhythm. People pass me the ball, Kenny is drawing plays for me, things are just clicking.”
While Cleveland feels good about how the team has been played over the past several weeks, there are still questions about how it will translate to the postseason, Collier notes. Mitchell has never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, while Harden made his lone NBA Finals appearance in 2012, when he won Sixth Man of the Year in his third season with Oklahoma City.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- After Sunday’s victory in Brooklyn, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype asked Cavaliers point guard Harden how much longer he wants to keep playing (Twitter video link). “I know it’s coming soon. Hopefully, later than soon, but it’s reality,” Harden said. “Everybody has to go through this at some point. … Just trying to continue to keep my body in shape and play well. … We’ll see what happens in the next few years. Take it one game at a time and cherish the moments.”
- Second-year forward Matas Buzelis has impressed for the Bulls over the last three games after he had a “heart-to-heart” talk with head coach Billy Donovan about his shot selection and continuing to find ways to impact winning, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The 21-year-old has averaged 24.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.0 SPG and 1.0 BPG on .520/.429/.727 shooting over that three-game span.
- Indiana hold a team option on Micah Potter‘s contract for next season, and the fifth-year big man is making a strong case for the Pacers to exercise it with his recent play, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscriber link). Over his last eight games (25.6 MPG), Potter is averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.0 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .538/.463/.870 shooting. The 27-year-old has some defensive limitation, but he has been a good fit in Indiana’s offensive system, Dopirak writes. “Solid is the word,” head coach Rick Carlisle said. “Micah, that’s what he is. He’s solid. He’s a no-frills player. He doesn’t try to be fancy out there. He plays the game, he works to play to his strengths. I like that he’s a stretch big that can legitimately play some four. That’s a very good thing.” Potter’s $2.8MM salary for 2026/27 would still be non-guaranteed even if the Pacers exercise that option.
Cavaliers Notes: OT Loss, Mitchell, Harden, Ellis, Mobley
The Cavaliers lost in overtime at Detroit on Friday and came away unimpressed with the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports (subscription required).
Playing without their starting backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, the Cavaliers had the Pistons on the ropes. But Cleveland missed two key free throws late in regulation and Jaylon Tyson fouled Daniss Jenkins on a half-court 3-point attempt with less than five seconds remaining. Jenkins made all three free throws to tie the game and Detroit escaped with a 122-119 overtime victory.
“They aren’t in our class,” one player told Fedor.
Forward Evan Mobley believes the Pistons will have a tough time getting past the Cavaliers in the postseason.
“I feel like we’re one of the top teams,” he said. “They’ve got to face us, honestly. We’re playing pretty good basketball and we’re going to continue to play good basketball. Just got to play our best in April and May and June. That’s our goal. We’re going to learn from this game and just keep stacking wins and get ready for the playoffs.”
Here’s more on the Cavaliers:
- Mitchell is dealing with a right groin strain while Harden has a fractured right thumb. “We don’t love soft tissue injuries, obviously,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Mitchell’s injury, per ESPN’s Jamal Collier. “The feedback I’m getting is that it’s not a long-term thing.” Harden wore a protective brace on his thumb at shootaround Friday morning and attempted to dribble and shoot but was still feeling discomfort. “I know this morning he was struggling a little, just dribbling,” Atkinson said. “I mean, the thing’s broken. … If you have a hard time dribbling and catching, that’s [tough].”
- Keon Ellis, who also missed Friday’s game, has a non-displaced volar plate avulsion of his left index finger, the team tweets. He suffered the injury against the Bucks on Wednesday but still played 29 minutes, scoring 14 points. “I had no clue it was fractured or broken, but I couldn’t really do nothing,” Ellis told Fedor. “They told me after watching film they think it happened when I dove on the floor and came up with a loose ball because that’s when I kind of started shaking my hand. I thought it was just jammed. But then I couldn’t squeeze the ball at all and thought I might need to come out of the game.”
- Mobley had his best game since returning from a calf strain, contributing 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against Detroit. “Much better, much better. He’s starting to catch a groove,” Atkinson said. “I can see it, [I] told him this morning in shoot around, I feel like just more energetic. He’s got more confidence. Just seems like when he comes back from injury, it always takes him a little bit to get going. So, that might be the most positive thing about this game tonight, we get him kind of playing like that. Making a few threes obviously helps. But just overall, I thought it was really good.”
Donovan Mitchell (Groin) To Miss Second Straight Game Friday
Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who was out for Wednesday’s loss in Milwaukee, will miss his second straight game on Friday when the Cavaliers play at Detroit, tweets Jamal Collier of ESPN. Mitchell has a right groin strain.
The Cavs have gone 2-3 so far this season without Mitchell, a seven-time All-Star who last suited up on Tuesday vs. New York. He had 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 31 minutes in the win over the Knicks.
The 29-year-old is having another stellar season for Cleveland, averaging 28.5 points, 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals on .483/.369/.852 shooting splits. He has made 55 appearances so far in 2025/26 (33.5 minutes per game).
Mitchell’s new backcourt running mate James Harden is also dealing with an injury, having been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. According to Collier, Harden had his injured digit heavily wrapped when he exited the locker room on Wednesday, when he was inactive. The former MVP is questionable for Friday’s game.
Harden isn’t the only Cavs guard who has a broken finger — Keon Ellis has a fractured left index finger, per the league’s official injury report, and is questionable to play against the Pistons. Point guard Dennis Schröder and forward Dean Wade are both battling right ankle sprains and are questionable as well.
It’s worth noting that Harden’s and Ellis’ fractures are both to their non-shooting hands. It remains to be seen how their injuries will impact their performance. Ellis’ ailment likely occurred on Wednesday, as he played 29 minutes against the Bucks.
Thunder Notes: Joe, Injuries, Holmgren, Caruso, Topic
Thunder guard Isaiah Joe is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA, but the 26-year-old contributes to winning in other ways as well, per Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
Joe lit up the Cavaliers on Sunday, tying his season high with 22 points and converting six of his 11 looks from behind the arc. But he also had a career-high five steals, plus three assists and two rebounds in 30 minutes.
“From a young age, I’ve always taken pride in it,” Joe said of his defense. “Being undersized out there, you don’t want to be the weak link. With this team that we have, we have tremendous defenders. We can almost live and die on our defense every single game. So whenever I’m out there I just try to stay physical, make the right rotations, take charges and try to win on the defensive end.”
As Martinez writes, Joe is an adept off-ball mover and cutter on top of being an unselfish passer. Fellow guard Cason Wallace, who had his first career double-double Sunday (20 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, three steals), praised Joe’s all-around game.
“He’s a great cutter,” Wallace said. “If you overplay him, he’s very smart. He’ll back-cut you and finish at the rim. He’s a high-level rebounder. He has a full game, for sure.”
We have more from Oklahoma City:
- Head coach Mark Daigneault praised Joe after Sunday’s win, according to Martinez (Twitter video link). As Martinez notes, Joe is averaging 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 50.8% from long distance in nine February games (26.4 MPG) amid injuries to several key players. “He’s been unbelievable,” Daigneault said of the former second-round pick. “We’ve obviously endured injuries but also the fluidity of those injuries. It hasn’t been the same people out that have allowed us to get into a team rhythm. It’s just been a weird situation where the minute we get one guy back, another has gone out. He has been a stabilizing force.”
- The Thunder were missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell on Sunday, yet they outplayed the Cavs, who entered the game having won seven straight games and 12 of their past 13. OKC’s shorthanded victory over Cleveland is one reason why the NBA should rethink it’s marketing strategy and focus more on the depth of talent across the league and on the best teams rather than just star players, says Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “I think we do discredit ‘team,’” Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell said. “This wasn’t a situation where we were like, ‘All right, we’re going to come in here (and dominate, because of OKC’s injuries).’ They’re a championship-level team. But I do think you see that, no SGA, no J-Dub, as fans, not as us (the Cavs), and you do think, ‘Oh, it should just be a (cakewalk).’ You know what I mean? These guys can go. They can play. We’ve seen that. This league is very talented.”
- All-Star big man Chet Holmgren is questionable for Tuesday’s game against Toronto because of lower back spasms, tweets Clemente Almanza of Thunder Wire. Caruso (left ankle sprain) is also questionable.
- After his second NBA game on Friday, Nikola Topic reflected his difficult road back to the court, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. The 20-year-old Serbian guard recovered from a torn ACL only to be diagnosed with testicular cancer in the fall. “I have to thank the organization as a whole, from the players and coaching staff to the medical team,” Topic said. “They were incredibly supportive throughout the entire process. And, of course, the fans as well.” Topic received a standing ovation in his first home game. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life, and I’ll try to kind of say thank you on the court,” he added.
Central Notes: Mitchell, Harden, Bickerstaff, Dillingham, Brown
Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have any concerns about how he and James Harden will mesh in the Cavaliers’ new starting backcourt, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I’ve never played with a guy like James Harden. I never had a guy like that on my team,” Mitchell said. “And we’re not here to figure out like who’s bigger, better or whatever. How are we going to win? And I think having that relationship helps. But it also speaks to the type of people that he and I are. We’re trying to figure what’s right. For him to go out there and say he’s trying to help me, that’s huge. That’s huge for everything. … Winning is the end-all, right? I’m not worried about how we’ll fit and how we’ll coexist because we have the same goal in mind, and it doesn’t matter how we get there. We just want to get there.”
Mitchell also touched on a number of other topics in a monthly diary, including his feelings on the sad way Chris Paul‘s career ended.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Following J.B. Bickerstaff‘s dismissal as head coach of the Cavaliers after the 2023/24 season, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get another opportunity, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” he said. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next.” New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon soon offered him a head coaching job within the division. He learned from his days in Cleveland how to improve in his next stop. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Rob Dillingham, a 2024 lottery selection, had trouble cracking the Timberwolves’ rotation and earning sustained minutes. After getting traded to the Bulls, Dillingham is getting a longer look from coach Billy Donovan, though he’ll still likely have to fight for playing time when the team’s backcourt gets healthy, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Dillingham has averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 turnovers in 24.7 minutes per game over three appearances. “His job and responsibility is to generate shots for guys when he gets (inside) and understand the shots where he has angles and can shoot a high percentage on and the shots he can’t,” Donovan said. “It’s not like I’m giving him free rein, we need him downhill, but he also can’t be jumping off two feet, getting caught in the air, trying to shoot over guys, trying to throw passes that aren’t there. He’s got to clean that up and we’ve got to help him do it. What I don’t want him to do is not be aggressive or be afraid to attack. He has to attack. He just has to make better decisions, and I think that will come in time.”
- Along with acquiring Ivica Zubac from the Clippers, the Pacers added guard Kobe Brown in the deal. Brown was only averaging 8.7 minutes in L.A. but could see his minutes jump the remainder of the season with Indiana. “I’m grateful, for sure. Grateful to be in this position,” he told Tony East of CircleCitySpin.com. “I feel like this team is a great team. Obviously, they were just in the Finals last year and were so close to winning it. And for them to want me here is big. So I’m happy and excited to be here and be a part of it.” Brown has played in two games with Indiana thus far, including a start against Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Anthony Edwards Named 2026 All-Star MVP
Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was named All-Star MVP after his team – the USA Stars – defeated the rival U.S. squad – USA Stripes – 47-21 in the All-Star championship game. It’s Edwards’ first All-Star MVP award and his third All-Star appearance overall.
The first three games of the All-Star game rewarded the choice of format, with all three matchups decided by one possession.
In game one between USA Stars and Team World, Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) set the tone early, recording 14 points and three blocks while his teammate Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks) contributed 10 points. Edwards led the Stars attack with 13 points, but it was Scottie Barnes (Raptors) who knocked down the game-winning three-pointer, completing a comeback to defeat his head coach, Darko Rajakovic, who was coaching Team World.
After the game, Edwards credited Wembanyama for doing what he said he would and amping up the intensity on the floor for everyone.
Game two between the two American teams also came down to the final shot, as Jaylen Brown (Celtics) led USA Stripes in scoring while Edwards and Cade Cunningham (Pistons) paced USA Stars with 11 points apiece. De’Aaron Fox (Spurs) hit the game-winning three-pointer for the Stars.
In game three, Kawhi Leonard (Clippers) took over for his home crowd, scoring 31 points in 12 minutes on 11-of-13 shooting while Wembanyama kept Team World in it with 19 points of his own. Leonard iced the game with a three-pointer over Towns to take USA Stripes to the championship game in a rematch with USA Stars.
In the fourth and final game, USA Stripes’ older legs appeared worn down by the previous two contests and the younger stars ran out to a 12-1 lead, led by Edwards and Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), who finished with a game-high nine points. They pushed the lead up to 26-9 on an Edwards three-pointer and eventually went on a 15-0 run, as Jalen Brunson (Knicks) and LeBron James (Lakers) were the only players to hit a field goal over the first seven minutes for USA Stripes. Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) finished the game with a team-high six points for USA Stripes.