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Cavs' championship hopes depend on Evan Mobley, not Donovan Mitchell
Cavs' championship hopes depend on Evan Mobley, not Donovan Mitchell

New York Times

time21-05-2025

  • Sport
  • New York Times

Cavs' championship hopes depend on Evan Mobley, not Donovan Mitchell

There was something I noticed about Donovan Mitchell as this season progressed, something I didn't quite pick up on as much during his first two seasons in Cleveland. Mitchell is consumed by winning these days. Obsessed with it, really. After signing two max contracts, receiving a few MVP votes, making various All-NBA teams and playing in six consecutive All-Star Games, it's the only remaining hole in his career. Advertisement How successful he is in dragging the rest of this roster to that mental obsession point — or how quickly it gets there organically — will determine if and when the Cavs break through this barrier. Mitchell is acutely aware of the knock against him. If we're being honest, we probably have the answer to how far a Mitchell-led team can make it in the NBA postseason. We have eight years and two franchises of proof. The answer is the second round. That isn't intended to be a knock on Mitchell. There are plenty of All-Stars who can't even make it that far. The reality of how this league is built, the physicality and intensity with which postseason games are played, make it incredibly difficult for undersized guards to carry franchises to championships. There's a reason it rarely happens, and there's also nothing Mitchell can do about his physical stature. Mitchell, on one leg, did his absolute best to drag the Cavs past the Indiana Pacers in the second round this year. He was marvelous at various points and overworked most of the series. His 50.1 usage rate in Game 2 was higher than any single LeBron James playoff game in his incredible career and left Mitchell exhausted in just 36 minutes. If the Cavs are ever going to reach their full potential, it won't be Mitchell guiding them. It will be Evan Mobley. Mitchell seems to understand this, which is why he was willing to pull back this year and give Mobley more oxygen on the offensive end. Cavs president Koby Altman acknowledged it as well this week. 'This is a big offseason again for Evan,' Altman said. 'We're going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go.' Altman is absolutely correct. As he pointed out this week, that means more than 13 shots in a playoff game. Mobley's usage rate went down, sometimes significantly, this postseason after his breakthrough in the regular season. That can't happen again. Cleveland Cavaliers President Koby Altman on Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley: 'We're going to go as a franchise as Evan is going to go. We've had that conversation with Evan… We think we have one of the best big men in the game in Evan Mobley.' — Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 19, 2025 I believed entering the postseason that whenever the Cavs' season ended, we'd look back on the playoffs as the point when Mobley became the most important player on the court. That didn't happen. With another offseason of growth and another year in Kenny Atkinson's system, it has to happen now. But Mobley — and Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen — hasn't experienced as many failures and heartbreaks as Mitchell has endured. Mitchell has built up more failure and scar tissue than the younger Cavs. That isn't rare. Plenty of stars have to go through it and fail multiple times before figuring it out. Advertisement James had to go to Miami for four years to learn how to win. Kevin Durant went to Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors. Mitchell has been everything the Cavs desired when they acquired him from the Utah Jazz. He has led both on and off the floor. But the one thing that always struck me as a bit odd is that Mitchell is trying to guide this Cavs roster to a place he hasn't yet discovered himself. The Cavs hired a Sherpa to lead them up a mountain he has never scaled. When James returned to the Cavs in 2014, one of the first things he did was pull aside young stars like Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson and essentially tell them, 'Do everything I tell you to do and we'll win.' They did. And they did. Thompson and Max Strus are the only players on this roster with that type of Finals experience, and neither is in the position to carry or lead a franchise. Atkinson lacked playoff experience until this season. He admitted to me months ago that this was the first time he coached a team with a legitimate chance of winning a championship. He had things to learn, too. There is no one here to show them the way. They have to figure it out for themselves. That's not totally foreign in the NBA. Lots of teams don't know how to get there until they do. There was a time the Warriors, outside their head coach, lacked championship DNA. The Oklahoma City Thunder aren't flooded with championship experience. They're figuring it out as they go. The hope in Cleveland is that this group figures it out before salary-cap restrictions force the Cavs into significant roster cuts. I wrote earlier this week about the 'Road Trippin'' podcast with Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye and Kendrick Perkins and their scathing remarks about this Cavs team. All three of them are NBA champions. All three know the mental and physical exhaustion it takes to win. LeBron said winning a championship is the hardest thing he's ever done. Mike Miller told me that when teams win a Finals game, guys feel like they're invincible and will never lose again. But lose a Finals game and it feels like you'll never win again. Advertisement 'It's fun in the regular season. That s— is stressful as hell in the postseason,' Perkins said on the podcast episode. 'You're losing f—ing sleep, you're not brushing your teeth. You don't s—, shave or bathe until you see better days when you're trying to win an NBA championship. It's that f—ing hard. You have to be that committed.' I don't know if these Cavs players outside of Mitchell fully grasped that a few weeks ago, but they're learning it now. There is an obsession necessary to win in this league. Mitchell can't do it alone. We have eight years of proof. If the Cavs are ever going to get there, Mobley has to lead them. (Photo of Evan Mobley being guarded by Obi Toppin: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)

Cavs' Donovan Mitchell to undergo MRI on Monday, says he ‘will be good' for Game 5 vs. Pacers
Cavs' Donovan Mitchell to undergo MRI on Monday, says he ‘will be good' for Game 5 vs. Pacers

New York Times

time12-05-2025

  • Sport
  • New York Times

Cavs' Donovan Mitchell to undergo MRI on Monday, says he ‘will be good' for Game 5 vs. Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS — Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell will undergo an MRI on Monday after missing the second half of a blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 on Sunday, but said he's planning to play in Game 5 with Cleveland facing elimination. 'I will be good for Tuesday,' Mitchell said as part of a few brief remarks in the hallway outside the Cavs' locker room following the 129-109 loss to the Pacers. Advertisement Mitchell appeared to sustain a lower leg injury at halftime, with the Cavs down by 41 points, when he came out of the locker room to warm up for the second half. He tried to shoot a 3-pointer, but apparently felt a shot of pain, limped to the locker room and didn't return to the bench. The team said it was a left ankle injury, but Mitchell had been battling a mild calf strain in this Eastern Conference semifinals. After initially being noncommittal as to what was hurt, Mitchell said it was an ankle injury and the MRI was to 'check to make sure I'm good.' 'I'll see you Tuesday,' said Mitchell, who was on his feet, without a walking boot or crutches or anything that would indicate something season ending (though the Pacers could take care of that for him with a win Tuesday). Mitchell scored 133 points in Cleveland's first three games but managed just 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting in 20 minutes in Game 4. The Pacers outscored the Cavs by 35 points with Mitchell on the court — one of about a dozen indicators of just how poorly it all went for them. 'Complete domination by them is really kind of the story,' Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. Donovan Mitchell is doubtful to return to Game 4 after suffering an ankle injury. He was being looked at by staff during shoot around headed into the second half. — NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 12, 2025 The Cavs' halftime deficit tied for the largest through two quarters in NBA playoff history. They committed 22 turnovers which led to 35 points for Indiana, and at halftime had more turnovers (14) than baskets (8). Darius Garland, who is battling a toe injury, was Cleveland's leading scorer with 21 points. The only shred of spirit the Cavs showed while both teams were playing their regular players was in the first quarter, when De'Andre Hunter responded to being punched in the chest by Indiana's Bennedict Mathurin by walking up to Mathurin with a finger in his face and two-hand shoving him to the ground. Advertisement Mathurin, not Hunter, was ejected from the game for the punch; Hunter and Myles Turner of the Pacers were given technicals. The Pacers, who now have three chances to close out the No. 1 seed Cavs and advance to the conference finals for the second consecutive year, received 21 points from Pascal Siakam and 20 points apiece from Turner and Obi Toppin. Cleveland won its first 15 games and spent the entire season in first place in the East, going back and forth with Oklahoma City for the best record in the NBA. The Cavs are now on the brink of becoming the third team to win at least 12 straight to open the season and fail to get to the finals. 'We got two out of the three next games at home. We're great at home. (We) got to get the next one and see if we can come back here for Game 6,' Atkinson said. Not only are the Cavs on the verge of being bounced out of the second round in five games for the second year in a row, but, depending on how the MRI goes Monday, Mitchell could be in street clothes for Cleveland's last game for the second consecutive season. Mitchell sustained a more severe calf strain and was out for the final two games of the conference semifinals last year against Boston. Calf strains are dangerous injuries because they can lead to Achilles tears; it's fair to suspect doctors may look at Mitchell's calf in imaging Monday to make sure something hasn't worsened there. 'Right now we're just gonna focus on us and who we have,' said Evan Mobley, who missed Game 2 with an ankle sprain and finished with 10 points and five rebounds on Sunday. 'Hopefully (Mitchell is) good and he'll be good for Game 5, but if not it will have to be whoever the next man up is.'

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