Donovan Mitchell reacts to his 71-point performance against the Bulls / News - Basketnews.com

Donovan Mitchell felt humbled to be included in the list of all-time legends. The guard felt he had a better game than he did in NBA 2K and received praise from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James who previously held the Cavs' single-game scoring record.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix

Donovan Mitchell provided a performance for the ages against the Chicago Bulls last night, scoring 71 points in what was the highest-scoring personal performance since the famous Kobe Bryant's 81-point outburst against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.

Player of the Game EFF 67 Donovan Mitchell Points 71 Accuracy 22-34 Rebounds 8 Assists 11

The NBA record for most points scored in a match belongs to Wilt Chamberlain who scored 100 against the New York Knicks in 1962.

"To be there in the record book with guys like Wilt is truly humbling,'' Mitchell said after the game. "I always believed I could be one of the best players in the league. I'm speechless and blessed to be in the company of that greatness."

"I think I had a game like that once playing NBA2K but I don't think I shot that efficiently,'' the Cavaliers guard joked about his video game-like performance. "That was in a loss, so this feels that much better."

Mitchell scored or assisted on 99 points in the game, the most since the 100-point Chamberlain's game.

Additionally, the guard set career-highs in free throws attempted (25) and made (20) while tying his best for assists (11). His 55 points in the second half were the most in the last 25 years. Besides Chamberlain and Bryant, only David Thompson has managed to score more than 71 points in an NBA game (73 in 1978).

"It's humbling,'' Mitchell told. "I'm speechless. For me, not only did I do that but I did it an effort when we came back and won and it's how we won. It's nuts."

Mitchell's performance broke the Cavaliers' single-game scoring record of 57 points which was previously shared by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.

"Records are meant to be broken," Irving said after finding out. "I'm happy he did. What's funny about it is ... tell Don I shouted him out but I was on Call of Duty a little bit before the game with Don. We were playing quads, and he was locked in, I could tell. He was locked in."

"I haven't seen the clips of the game yet but obviously the guy had to be on fire," James commented. "We play a game where a lot of guys always talk about getting buckets, you know? And some of the best guys who put the ball in the hole. And obviously, tonight, Donovan showed that he's one of the best in our league to be able to put up ... anytime you're putting up 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s -- you know you're extremely, extremely gifted at what you do. That's definitely something he'll never forget, his family will never forget."

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