MIAMI – As the Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, there were many contributions from the team, but one that stood out was newcomer Davion Mitchell coming from the Jimmy Butler trade. While Mitchell has been described as a jack of all trades type of player for the Heat, he had his best game in the new uniform, garnering the attention of head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Mitchell is known for being a defensive stalwart, but his offensive play was put on display as he finished with 20 points, shooting seven of eight from the field, making all five of his three-point attempts, tying a career-high. He would also have six assists, showing his playmaking ability as that’s an important aspect for Miami according to what Spoelstra told ClutchPoints.

“He just wants to fit in, He wants to, you know, help in whatever the way that he can,” Spoelstra said. “And, you know, I think as he spends more time with us, he’ll find opportunities to be more aggressive. You know, he’s certainly doing that defensively. His playmaking and his ability just to get the ball where we want it to go, is an important aspect of playing that position for us. But also, you know, those random plays where he’s able to drive and make some plays, you know, I think that’s something we can build on for sure.”

Davion Mitchell says the Heat have never “had a defender like me ever”

As the Heat work through their current flaws, Mitchell looks to be one of the solutions as he’s been in the starting lineup since the very first game he debuted for the team on Feb. 10 in the loss to the Boston Celtics. Though Miami went through a rough stretch after the trade for Butler, Wednesday’s win could be what the doctor ordered in turning around the season as it was bleak before.

While it was an offensive dogfight in the first half against the Hawks Wednesday, the Heat took control in the second once they picked up their defensive pressure as Mitchell was a key factor. When speaking after the game to the media, Mitchell would say that the team is still building chemistry with one another while stating that he doesn’t believe Miami has “had a defender like me ever,” going into why that is.

“We got to kind of get used to each other,” Mitchell said. “I mean, for me, I don’t think they had a defender like me ever. I kind of get out around a lot of screens. Sometimes I mess up the coverages when I’m supposed to switch, trying to get over the screen. So this is the connection that we got, the chemistry we got to have, especially defensively. It takes time, and I think we did a really good job in that in the second half.”

At any rate, Mitchell looks to solidify his spot with the team as an X-factor and hopefully lead to wins as the team is 27-30 which puts them eighth in the Eastern Conference before the Heat take on the Indiana Pacers Friday night.