With the Cavaliers beating the Magic 106-94 at home, the final semifinal matchup is officially decided: the Cavaliers vs. the Celtics.
Relatively speaking, the suspense of the outcome of this group of duels is not very large. The Celtics, the favorites to win the championship this season, finished the regular season with a league-breaking 64-18 record and swept the Heat 4-1 in the first round, and it looks like the Cavaliers will have a hard time holding them off.
However, in this round of the series, there are two people who directly meet each other and are still very noteworthy, that is, Tatum vs Mitchell.
In the 2017 draft, Tatum was drafted by the Celtics with the 3rd pick, and Mitchell was drafted by the Jazz with the 13th pick.
In the public opinion environment at that time, neither of them was very favorable, or did not receive enough attention.
Fultz had already booked the No. 1 spot in advance, the Lakers even drafted Ball and older rookie Kuzma, and Josh Jackson and Fox also received a lot of attention.
However, after the start of the season, Tatum and Mitchell gradually overshadowed them, and finally the two were selected to the All-Rookie Team without any suspense.
If it weren't for Simmons, the top pick, Tatum and Mitchell would have fought to the death for the best rookie that year.
But when the playoff stage kicked off, Tatum and Mitchell really showed how good they were.
Objectively speaking, Tatum and Mitchell's performance in the playoffs in their rookie season is rarely such a wonderful rookie showdown after entering the 21st century.
On Tatum's side, due to the reimbursement of Irving and Hayward's season, Tatum took over the role of the team's boss in advance, he averaged 18.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 19 games, not only the team's scoring champion, but also led the team to eliminate the Bucks of Brother Alphabet 4-3 in the first round, and swept Embiid and Simmons' 76ers 4-1 in the semifinals, and the Cavaliers of James's Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference were barely lost in 7 games.
In other words, Tatum almost stopped the Cavalry from fighting for the fourth consecutive year that year. In that year's playoffs, Tatum combined for 351 points, one point shy of Abdul-Jabbar's all-time No. 1 rookie playoff score.
On Mitchell's side, the first series of his career playoffs, he faced the Thunder Big Three of Westbrook, George, and Anthony. The series was initially seen as one-sided, but Mitchell then scored back-to-back 33 and 28 points and scored 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting in G6 to send the Thunder Big Three home.
Unfortunately, in the second round against the Rockets with Harden and Paul, Mitchell ultimately lost, and they failed to touch the floor of the Western Conference finals.
As mentioned above, rookies like Tatum and Mitchell who shine in the playoffs. For example, in recent years, the high-pick rookies, Towns, Edwards, Zion, including Wembanyama, whenever we mention their rookie seasons, it seems that all we can boast about is the regular season stats.
And Tatum and Mitchell's rookie performances seem to have been telling us from the beginning that their stage is in the bigger playoffs.
In the 2018-19 season, Tatum once again played one more round than Mitchell.
But Tatum's Celtics were eliminated in the semifinals, and Mitchell faced his old rival Rockets and suffered his first first-round tour in his career.
In the 2019-20 season, the duo had grown into third-year students, and they once again played very well from afar.
The Celtics underwent a team breakdown in the summer of 2019, and Tatum officially became the new core of the team. In his third year, he averaged 26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1.2 blocks per game in the playoffs, and led the team to sweep the 76ers in the first round, and eliminated the Raptors in the semifinals to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
Mitchell and the Jazz didn't go far, but Mitchell put in an unparalleled individual performance. In the first round of the seven big games against the Nuggets, Mitchell scored 58 points, 30 points, 20 points, 51 points, 30 points, 44 points, and 22 points! Unfortunately, the Jazz were reversed by the Nuggets with a 3-1 lead.
In the 2020-21 season, Mitchell defeated Tatum in the playoffs for the first time.
With Jaylen Brown out for the season, Tatum scored 50 points to lead the team out of the playoffs. Don't think it's easy, in recent seasons there have been a lot of stars who have fallen to the play-offs, including Curry, DeRozan, Ingram and many more. In the playoffs that season, the Green Army was eliminated by the Nets 1-4 in the first round, which was also the least playoff game Tatum has played so far. In the five big games, except for G2 who left the court early with an eye injury, Tatum scored 22 points, 50 points, 40 points and 32 points in the remaining four games.
Mitchell had the best chance to make a run at the Western Conference Finals. Facing the Grizzlies in the first round, Mitchell G1 was sidelined due to injury, and then he quickly returned to lead the team to win four consecutive games to advance to the semifinals. Against the Clippers led by George and Kawhi Leonard, Mitchell played a performance that was not inferior to the superstars opposite, scoring 45 points, 37 points, 30 points, 37 points, 21 points and 39 points in six games. It's just a pity that the Jazz were eliminated by the Clippers for 4 consecutive games with a 2-0 lead.
Starting with the 2021-22 season, the fortunes of the two began to change.
Tatum led the Green Army to a take-off in 2022, and they finished second in the East in the regular season. Tatum first led the team to sweep Durant and Irving's Nets 4-0, and then scored 46 points in the semifinals G6 to save the Celtics and defeated the defending champion Bucks in the tiebreaker.
At the same time, Mitchell quietly ushered in the last season of his Jazz career. After scoring 32 points to lead the Jazz to a G1 victory, Mitchell and the Jazz were once again reversed, and they lost 2-4 to the Mavericks and were eliminated. Among them, in the battle of Tianwang Mountain, Mitchell only scored 9 points on 4-of-15 shooting, creating the worst performance of his career in the playoffs. That summer, the Jazz announced a regroup, and Mitchell left for Cleveland.
Being in the same division, the best duo in the class of 2017 had more opportunities to meet.
In a regular season match, Tatum completed the tie with a dunk, and then Mitchell completed a defensive stunner, but in overtime, it was Mitchell who took the victory.
Tatum led the Celtics to another championship and scored a game-high 51 points in the history of the tiebreaker. Facing the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, Tatum led the Green Army to win three games in a row from 0-3 down, but unfortunately he was cushioned at the beginning of G7 to prevent him from reaching the Finals again.
Mitchell led the Cavaliers to the playoffs for the first time in five years. But very surprisingly, as the more favored side, Mitchell and the Cavaliers were eliminated by the Knicks 1-4. Mitchell hasn't been consistent, scoring just 11 points on 5-of-18 shooting in one game.
From 2017 to 2024, both men have played in the NBA for seven seasons.
Tatum has won the Eastern Conference finals MVP once, an All-Star MVP, a two-time All-Star First Team, and a five-time All-Star team;
Mitchell has been named to the All-NBA Second Team once, a Slam Dunk Contest champion once, and a five-time All-Star selection.
And this season, the two broke the 10,000-point mark in their careers at the same time. In their playoff resumes, the two have never missed out in their careers. Compared to the two of them, the rest of the Class of 2017 has been left far behind.
Speaking about Mitchell, Tatum said, "Mitchell is one of the best players in the league, I have a very close relationship with him, we talk a lot. I'm in the same class as him and we've known each other for a long time. Anytime you get the chance to play against one of the best players in the league, you can improve yourself. As a contender, you're going to love these moments and you're going to love these matchups. ”
Speaking about Tatum, Mitchell said, "Tatum and I have been in conversation, and we often discuss the details of the game, which can help each other be more efficient. Tatum and I have a lot in common about the game. He got into the league at the end of his freshman year, and I got into the league after two years at the University of Louisville, so our growth paths were a little bit different, but we both had the same professional attitude. ”
It has been 7 years since the two entered the NBA, and now the two are finally facing off in the playoffs.
This matchup is not only about the battle for the Eastern Conference Finals, but also the head-to-head matchup between the two strongest in the class of 2017. Who can bring us a stronger scoring feast? Can they create more sparks in the game? Let's wait and see!