Victory was within grasp for the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, and it would have seen them take a crucial 1-0 series lead against their toughest opponents yet: the New York Knicks. But instead of closing the deal and capitalizing on a key opportunity, the Cavs allowed a comeback down the stretch that forced overtime and ultimately cost them the game (115-104).
After it was all said and done, star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell had a lot to say about his team’s performance. Up 22, Cleveland allowed a 44-11 run in the fourth quarter, the largest comeback of its kind in the Eastern Finals since 1997.
“So many things I think played a factor into it,” said Mitchell. “We didn’t close it out, we gotta clean up on film, and go from there. It’s one loss, it’s a bad loss, but all we can do is go back and watch the film and fix it. It’s just one game; we could have lost by 40, and it still would have been 1-0. We played pretty solidly for about three quarters. We’ll make adjustments and go from there.”
Predictably, it was Jalen Brunson who torched the Cavaliers tonight. In 46 minutes, he dropped 38 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals, and zero blocks on 5.17% shooting and 16.7% shooting from three. He saw heavy coverage throughout the game, but Mitchell admitted that it was never enough.
“He was a little uncomfortable; we could have done some things collectively, but we didn’t, and that’s on us,” Mitchell added. “Ultimately, we can’t do anything now. We gotta go out there and watch the film and fix it for Game 2.”
Mitchell isn’t keen on looking back, but even he can’t deny that the Cavaliers should have won the game. They let this one slip, and it’s something he’s determined not to let happen again.
“We should have won the game,” said Mitch. “Even if there was complacency, we’re up 22 with eight minutes left. Gotta win the game. But we gotta keep your head up and go from there. Don’t let one quarter affect you for the rest of the series. It’s gonna be a long series, and there are things we did that are positive things we can look forward to. But we should have won the game, we didn’t… We lost, we f**king blew it, now let’s run up for Game 2.”
With 15 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, zero steals, and three blocks, young power forward Evan Mobley stuffed the stat sheet, even though he had a rough shooting night (37.5%) overall. Against New York’s star-studded frontcourt, Mobley’s play will be critical in this series, and how he responds to tonight’s loss will set the tone for the rest of the series.
“It definitely hurts,” said Mobley. “You want to win Game 1, especially when you’re up like that, you want to win those games. We have to do better with finishing that, but it’s not an easy road, and we have to bounce back and try to get a dub. But we’ve done this before; we were down two in the last series, so we’ve been here before. You just have to bounce back and look at film, see what we can change, and fix that.”
It’s true that the Cavaliers have faced adversity before. They were down 0-2 in the previous series before making a comeback to beat the Detroit Pistons, but this matchup is a whole different beast. Against a team this stacked and well-disciplined, the Cavaliers’ margin for error is tiny, and they must play their best basketball to have any hope of advancing to the Finals.
For Mitchell, his role is clear: to lead the Cavaliers both on and off the court. He’s been their hero throughout these playoffs, but the job is not yet done. To take the Cavaliers all the way, he’ll have to elevate his game even further and clean up the mistakes that are costing his team so much.
