How many guesses would you need to correctly identify the NBA player who averages the most points against the Celtics? Regardless of the number, I’d take the over.
Michael Jordan famously torched the Celtics throughout his career (to be fair, he famously torched everyone but that’s besides the point). And while Celtics fans will rightly point out that Jordan never beat them in a playoff series — Boston swept its only two meetings with MJ, 1st round in 1986 and 1987 — he did hold the distinction of averaging more points against Boston than any other player.
Until now.
When Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell poured in 41 points on the road in Boston back on February 28, it upped his all-time scoring average against the Celtics to 30.8.
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Just enough to inch past Jordan who himself averaged 30.7 in 56 career regular season matchups. Here’s a look at the top 10:
| Player | PPG | Games |
| 1. Donovan Mitchell | 30.8 | 20 |
| 2. Michael Jordan | 30.7 | 56 |
| 3. Luka Doncic | 30.3 | 12 |
| 4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 28.9 | 62 |
| 5. Wilt Chamberlain | 28.7 | 112 |
| 6. LeBron James | 28.6 | 61 |
| T-7. Bob Pettit | 27.6 | 91 |
| T-7. LaMelo Ball | 27.6 | 10 |
| 9. Anthony Davis | 27.4 | 22 |
| 10. Oscar Robertson | 27.3 | 101 |
Mitchell has been lights out against the Celtics all season long.
Prior to dropping 41 in that come from behind statement win, he also had a pair of 35-point games to go along with a 31-10-6 performance. On the season, Mitchell is pumping in 35.5 points per game against Boson which on paper should have about as strong of a defensive game plan as anyone could expect against a player like Mitchell. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are both all-league defenders while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown also have the length to potentially give Mitchell fits.
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(Yes, I know that Holiday didn’t play in the last meeting).
That makes Mitchell’s string of consistent A+ efforts all the more impressive and it could loom large in a potential Eastern Conference Finals showdown.
Barring a complete collapse, Cleveland will be the No. 1 seed with the potential benefit of a Game 7 on its own floor. With Mitchell on a Michael Jordan-esque heater against Boston, Celtics fans should absolutely be weary of a Cavs showdown.
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