Donovan Mitchell points tonight: Spida comes to Cavs' rescue once again with 39-piece vs. Orlando Magic in Game 7 (May 5)

Following an incredible 50-point performance on the road against the Orlando Magic in a 103-96 Game 6 loss, Donovan Mitchell would not be denied a Game 7 victory at home. Thanks to his pivotal 39-point outing, the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA Playoffs in a head-to-head meeting against the Boston Celtics.

Interestingly, "Spida" Mitchell put up 15 points in the first half of the elimination game as Cleveland sorely needed any kind of momentum to go their way. Before heading into the second half with a 10-point deficit from a 17-point hole with 5:38 minutes to go in the second, the five-time NBA All-Star kept his team in the game when it could have gone worse without his efforts.

To start the third quarter, Donovan Mitchell opened it up with seven huge points to swing some momentum their way as the Magic's defense tried to continue slowing him down with each possession.

From relentless attacks to the basket to some tough shotmaking from the perimeter, Mitchell put the team on his back by forcing the opposition defense to react on the fly with little to no adjustments made. With a rough shooting night from Darius Garland (3-of-13), the Cavaliers star knew what he had to do to keep their postseason hopes alive.

In a win-or-go-home situation, Mitchell came back stronger in the second half of Game 7 by putting up 24 points against the third-ranked defense in the league as he did not allow his team to be sent home in the first round for the second straight postseason.

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Donovan Mitchell questions free-throw disparity between Cavaliers and Magic in Game 6

Following the missed opportunity to eliminate the Orlando Magic in six games, the Cavaliers dropped Game 6 103-96. After the game, Donovan Mitchell spoke to reporters about the free-throw disparity between his team and the Magic, as per Cleveland's Chris Fedor.

"I want to give credit to Orlando, and this is not an excuse," Mitchell said, "But we attack, we get to the paint. Ten free throws, to me, is crazy. At the end of the day, a guy who drives like that, and I'm not saying that's the only reason we lost, we have many different things we can point to ... maybe we have to make a point to drive more, and maybe it's on us."

Compared to the Cavaliers' 10 free throw attempts in the game, the Orlando Magic were given 26 attempts at the charity stripe on their home floor. Despite only shooting 39.3% in the contest, including 30.6% from beyond the arc, the Magic pulled off a hard-fought victory to extend the series to seven games.

Donovan Mitchell was split about his team's situation but pointed out that they needed to do better to force the officials to call fouls their way more than what they received from the game.

During the 106-94 Game 7 victory, the Cavaliers had 36 free-throw attempts while Orlando had 30.