Cavs' Donovan Mitchell named Eastern Conference Player of the Week again

For the second time this season, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He was honored for games played from Jan. 27 through Sunday. It's the eighth time Mitchell has won the award in his career and fifth honor since coming to Cleveland. Only LeBron James, who won the award 42 times while with the Cavs, has been honored more. Interestingly enough, James, now with the Los Angeles Lakers, won the Western Conference award this week. Mitchell joins backcourt mate Darius Garland, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston's Jayson Tatum and Denver's Nikola Jokic as the only players in the NBA to earn the honor multiple times this season. Tatum will be in town tonight as the Celtics invade Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in a battle of the top teams in the East. Mitchell led the Cavs to a perfect 4-0 record last week as Cleveland improved to an NBA-best 40-9. It's the best start in franchise history and tied for the 17th-best start in league history. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder averaged a team-high 22.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.0 steal and shot .533 from the field, .406 from 3-point range and .933 from the foul line. The Cavs won by 19 points or more in each contest and did not trail in three of their four wins. They defeated Detroit, Miami, Atlanta and Dallas. Named as a 2025 NBA All-Star starter, his sixth consecutive All-Star selection, Mitchell has appeared in 47 games this season and is averaging 23.7 points (21st in the NBA), 4.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.4 steals (21st in NBA). He has connected on a team-high 172 3-pointers, the fourth most in the NBA, and is shooting a career-high .398 from long distance. Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.