Donovan Mitchell gave it his all on the court against the Pacers. Despite struggling with a left-ankle injury, he dropped 34 points in a Game 5 loss. The Cavaliers lost a 19-point lead in the second quarter as the Pacers rallied back into the game to steal the win in Cleveland and end their championship ambitions.
After the Cavaliers were eliminated from the Playoffs, Mitchell spoke to the media. In his response to a question about the Cavaliers’ toughness, Mitchell said, “Getting beat down like this and y’all are going to write some sh** about us, man. And that’s going to be fuel. Like you know, fuel for everybody. Y’all going to say a lot of sh**, y’all are. And that’s what it takes. I’ve been here, so I understand, we understand, and now we just got to use it as fuel for next year.”
Near the end of the press conference, Mitchell further added, “I go to bat for every guy in that locker room, like willing to die out there for those guys. We are for each other. I mean, we get, so like winning is not easy, some things have to go right. So you’ve got to play well. You know you’ve got to capitalize on opportunities. You look around the league, you’ve got to capitalize, and we have a window with this group. I believe in everybody in here. We believe in each other.”
“That’s what sucks man. It’s just we’re a good team, and for five, four games, three games, we didn’t show you know what we’re capable of. And ultimately, that’s what we’re judged on. So get in the gym, weight room, nutrition, whatever the hell it is, and get back at it. Because y’all going to write us the f**k off man. But we’ll be back. We let the city down, let each other down, we’ll be back”, said Mitchell as he concluded the press conference.
Who Do The Cavaliers Blame?
The Cavaliers were bitten by an injury bug early on in this series. Darius Garland missed the first two games of this series and only averaged 14.0 points per game after his return, considerably below his season average of 20.6 points per game. Max Strus, the Cavaliers’ sharpshooter, had two 20+ point games in this series (Game 2 and 3), despite averaging only 9.4 points per game in the regular season. However, he severely struggled in games 4 and 5 of this series, even putting up zero points in an elimination game after missing all nine of his shots.
Even De’Andre Hunter, the consistent fourth option for the Cavaliers in the regular season, struggled to perform against the Pacers. Averaging 19.0 points per game in the regular season, he only scored in double figures in two of their five games, averaging only 9.0 points per game.
Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell were the only bright spots for the Cavaliers in this series. Mitchell dropped four 30+ point performances, including two 40+ point games. The only thing the Cavaliers can blame is themselves as a team for this loss. Therefore, they need to start preparing early, preferably from now, to bounce back in the next season.
