The day after the Cleveland Cavaliers were unceremoniously evicted from last season’s NBA playoffs, an opposing league executive was on the line.
He had trouble believing what he’d seen as Cleveland fell to the lower-seeded Knicks in five games. In the last, the Cavs never led, trailing by as many as 18 and going out in a blaze of bewilderment before their home sellout.
“Their energy, their body language, their swagger — it was just pitiful,” the exec told Heavy Sports. “It was so bad. I’ve never seen a team that good have such bad body language.
“They’ve got real talent, but you could just see it early in the series that they had no confidence in one another. Just no swagger. Even in front of their home crowd. Nothing.”
On Friday, the same league source took stock of the 13-12 Clevelanders and said, “I have no idea what the hell is going on there … But it ain’t good.”
And it got significantly worse following the initial publishing of this story when it was learned that Darius Garland (fractured jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery) will miss several weeks. There could still be time to get it together when they return, but there is room to question if that’s possible, considering the uneven way Cleveland has played.
There remains a WTF element to the Cavs, birthed in last year’s fall from the race. With Donovan Mitchell joining Darius Garland in a dynamic backcourt and young large people like Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley to go with Caris LeVert and others, the club was the new and shiny flavor of the month. Many months, in fact. The Cavaliers finished with 51 wins, closer to third seed Philadelphia than the No. 5 Knicks. They were said to be a dangerous team that no one wanted to face in the postseason, except New York apparently didn’t mind.
Donovan Mitchell: ‘We’ll Figure it Out’
Nearly eight months later, this outfit with so much ability was answering questions about a third straight loss as it prepared to exit the visitors’ locker room in Boston Thursday night.
Mitchell finished with his group session and stayed for some larger picture questions. To wit, how does one explain the Cavaliers’ path from where they were to where they are?
He is clearly feeling the frustration, heightened a bit, perhaps, by consecutive losses to the Celtics despite his 29 and 31 points. But if Donovan Mitchell has any existential issues with how the Cavs are swimming in play-in waters, he isn’t splashing on the situation. He’s looking for a way out of this middle earth maze.
“We have the pieces,” Mitchell told Heavy Sports (before today’s injury news). “I think it’s just a matter of getting on the same page as a group.
“You know, at the end of the day I can sit here and give you all these answers, but we’ve got to go out there and put the consistency of work in, you know, in games. We put the work in in our off time, but all of us collectively as players and coaches, we’ve all got to get on the same page. I think it’s just something we’ve got to find a way to do.”
He thinks the good stuff from last year is still in the lineup.
“I think now it’s just (doing it on) a consistent basis,” said Mitchell, explaining he hadn’t been through this kind of thing since his rookie season in Utah. “But that was all a blur.”
That 2017-18 Jazz band started 19-27 before winning 11 straight and making it to the second round of the playoffs.
“So it’s just figuring that out, and part of myself as being a leader is not only leading, but also being able to listen and be receptive and finding a way,” he said. “So we’ll figure it out.”
Did Playoff Flop Carry Over for Cavaliers?
It’s fair to wonder whether last April’s depressing end has left a mark on the Cavaliers, but here, too, Donovan Mitchell won’t concede the possibility.
“I think we came back motivated,” he said. “We’ve got guys who came back ready to go. I think it motivated us, but, you know, it’s not showing it. That’s the tough part.
“But I’m not deflated. We’ve got to figure this thing out. That’s it. That’s all you can really do. Find ways. That’s it. It’s tough obviously, you know, winning a few, losing a few, but we’re not going to quit. We’re going to keep going.”
In the end, maybe the Cavs’ uneasy ride simply reveals how much of the game is mental.
“Mental, being on the same page, schemes, whatever it is,” Mitchell told Heavy. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve got to get back to it and continue to plug. We’ve taken steps forward; we’ve taken steps back. We’ve got to find a way to keep pushing.
“If it’s going to be ugly, it’s going to be ugly,” he added, before heading to the bus. “But we’ve got to find a way to do it.”
A way that will be more difficult now without two starters.
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Despite Cavaliers Struggles, Donovan Mitchell ‘Not Deflated’