Donovan Mitchell Draws MVP Calls From NBA Fans as Cavs Beat DeMar DeRozan, Bulls

It wasn't always easy, but the Cleveland Cavaliers keep rolling.

Cleveland defeated the Chicago Bulls 108-105 in Wednesday's Eastern Conference showdown at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and improved to 36-17 on the season and 18-2 in its last 20 games.

The Cavaliers were in comeback mode for much of the contest, but five free throws from Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland in the last minute proved to be the difference. Chicago still had the opportunity to tie it and force overtime in the final seconds, but Coby White's three-pointer didn't fall.

Mitchell drew MVP chants in crunch time and ended up with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds as one of six Cleveland players in double figures. White (32 points, seven rebounds and four assists) did what he could on the other side, but it wasn't enough to counter the Cavaliers guard.

Mitchell drew plenty of love on social media as a result:

The Cavaliers are the team with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, but Chicago controlled the early going of Wednesday's contest.

The visitors jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter and extended their advantage to as many as 17 in the second quarter with a balanced attack spearheaded by DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević and White.

From there, it was a question of when would Cleveland complete its comeback and take the lead. Between Mitchell hitting shots and creating for others and Isaac Okoro providing a spark off the bench, it didn't take long for the home team to cut into the deficit.

Yet the Bulls had an answer every time the Cavaliers came within a possession of flipping the lead for the entire third quarter, including when White hit a deep three to extend the advantage to five heading into the fourth.

It was only a matter of time until Cleveland finally broke through, though, and Georges Niang's triple early in the fourth quarter gave it the lead for the first time all game. Niang also got into a heated back-and-forth with White, which resulted in double technicals before the Cavaliers forward eventually fouled out.

The two teams traded the lead multiple times the rest of the way with Garland and White both converting massive threes down the stretch, but only one team had Mitchell.

Cleveland now has plenty of time to rest after such an impressive stretch and will take the court again after the All-Star break on Feb. 22 when it hosts the Orlando Magic.