The Cleveland Cavaliers’ loss to the Indiana Pacers on May 6 wasn’t for lack of effort on Donovan Mitchell’s part.

Despite playing through a calf strain, according to The Athletic, the former Louisville men’s basketball guard had 48 points, nine assists and five rebounds in the 120-119 defeat. With the loss, the Cavs dropped to 0-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinal series. Mitchell scored 21 points and contributed to 15 more points via assists to help the Cavs to a 61-50 lead at halftime.

After his 33-point series opener against the Pacers, Mitchell joined LeBron James as the only two Cavaliers with at least three 30-plus-point games in the first five games of the postseason.

Cleveland and Indiana are set for Game 3 of the series at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Indianapolis.

Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: NBA playoffs 2025: Donovan Mitchell has incredible game in Cavs’ loss