Donovan Mitchell led the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offensive charge tonight as they eliminated the No. 1 seed in the East, the Detroit Pistons.
He led all scorers with 26 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, going 10-22 from the field (45.5 FG%) and 2-6 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%). Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill also contributed significantly on offense with 23 points from each of those players.
The Cavaliers are now set to face the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, a team that beat them 4-1 in 2022-23, which was the last time they faced off in the postseason. Following that loss, Jarrett Allen had claimed that “the lights were too bright,” which had subsequently become a viral meme.
Following tonight’s win on the road in Detroit, the media asked Donovan Mitchell about whether those comments have any lingering effect on the team’s confidence going into the series, and his reaction to Allen’s improved performance on offense.
“It’s hard for me to care when he doesn’t care. Like, you know what I’m saying? Like, he’s like, man, like I don’t think he has an iPhone.I’m just messing with… I really don’t think he does. But um, no, like he doesn’t like it doesn’t faze him. And when you have a guy who’s so talented and so good at what he does and so selfless for us, it’s like man, like that’s whatever.”
“He made a comment, and the world ran with him. And if he didn’t say that and we still lost, there would still be comments. We could have lost the series. We lost the Indiana series. There’s always going to be something, right? There’s always going to be something. And I think for us, and for him to see him just continue to be himself the entire time,” Mitchell said.
“He didn’t come out there and say, “Man, I got to find a way to get this off my back.” Like, no, it was like, “I’m just going to be the same JA I’ve been since he’s been the same guy since I got here, right?”
“Like the same guy throughout. He doesn’t listen. He probably doesn’t see what you guys say, which I think also helps. But like he doesn’t, he doesn’t care. He’s just going to be who he is for us, and we know who he is for us. And I think that’s the biggest thing, man,” Mitchell further added.
“Like the narratives are going to be the narratives. Doesn’t matter if you win, lose, draw, whatever. It’s going to be something. So, I’m always happy for his success. Um, this is his second Game 7, and I joke with him. I was like, ‘Man, like this is just who you are now.’ Like Game 7 JA, right?”
“It’s Black History Month, JA, and Game 7 JA. But no, on a serious note, like this is just who he is. He’s been phenomenal for us. Ever since I got even before I got here, he’s been phenomenal in Brooklyn. I’m glad people are starting to see who he really is and who he is to not just us as a team, but who he is in the NBA.”
“Game 7 JA or Game 6 Klay?”, a reporter asked Mitchell. “I mean Game 7 JA. Come on. It’s two for two,” Mitchell confidently responded.
Allen finished the game with 23 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal while shooting 8-14 from the field (57.1 FG%) and 7-13 from the free-throw line. This is the second time Jarrett Allen has stepped up in the clutch moment for the Cavaliers in these playoffs.
In the first-round series against the Raptors as well, Allen was crucial for securing their Game 7 win. Just like he made up for Harden’s struggles that night, he also covered up for James Harden’s poor performance tonight (9 points, five rebounds, six assists, 2-10 FG, 20.0 FG%, 0-6 3P).
Heading into the next series against the Cavaliers, Jarrett Allen will initially, of course, hope that the series doesn’t need to go to a Game 7 altogether. But he will also hope to be pivotal in getting revenge for the Cavaliers’ first-round exit in 2023. They are now headed to New York to face them at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 19th.
