The stink of last year’s 4-2 first-round postseason Jazz loss to the Mavericks lingers with All-Star Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Now, Mitchell is looking to prove himself anew with Cleveland during its first-round matchup against the Knicks. The 6’1″ swingman spent his boyhood as a Knicks fan in Elmsford, New York.
“I’ve felt that way the whole year. That’s just been kind of my M.O. throughout my career — trying to prove my caliber of play,” Mitchell said ahead of the two teams’ first playoff meeting this weekend.
“I know who I am and these guys know who I am and what I’m capable of and I just go out there and be leader,” Mitchell continued. “This is a team game and we’re not going to win if I just tried to shoot every single time. Got to do this as a group collectively. That’s what got us to this point. Just continue to do that.”
There’s more out of Cleveland:
- The Rockets played an outsized role in helping build the Cavaliers’ current starting frontcourt of center Jarrett Allen and power forward Evan Mobley, as Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports details. When trying to accommodate star guard James Harden‘s 2021 trade demand, Houston preferred to acquire a first-round pick instead of Allen, who was slipped to the Cavs. In that summer’s draft, the Rockets selected Jalen Green with the No. 2 pick, clearing the way for Cleveland to grab Mobley with the third pick.
- In their first game hosting the fifth-seeded Knicks Saturday, the Cavaliers couldn’t close out New York and fell 101-97 at home. Fedor writes in a separate piece that Cleveland failed to effectively respond to a late Knicks rally, and that New York’s advantages in offensive rebounding and second-chance points helped put the Knicks in the driver’s seat.
- The Cavaliers need to explore whether veteran marksman Danny Green can still contribute some of his signature playoff shot-making, opines Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. The three-time champ may not be the same defender he was in his prime, but the 36-year-old can still help Cleveland in one very critical area: corner triples. Cavs swingmen Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert, ahead of Green in the team’s rotation, combined to go a lackluster 0-of-7 from deep.
Donovan needs to play off the ball more
Mitchell has 38 pts and 8 assists with only 2 turnovers. Garland’s good but Mitchell still their best playmaker and shot creator.
He’s handling the ball way too much look at the FG numbers of the team … The ball IS not Moving and his teamates are just waiting to go at the rim to move around. He should play hero ball at the end of possession and play without the ball more like Curry does
The Cavaliers bench is awful.
It was a good first gm. Cavs need to step up and help DM. Knicks bench definitely was better this gm. It makes you wonder why they let Love go. Cavs will play better. This is going seven imo.
Rockets made the right call. Green is going to be a star. And Allen’s time line didn’t really fit Rockets growth. Much better to have Smith, Según, this yrs picks. And Rockets will be next young team. To break out.
They already had Porter Jr at the two. Allen, Mobley and Smith would’ve been daunting, with Porter in the backcourt. The defense, the boards, the blocks…
Cavs are a SF away from being great. But as mentioned above, Mitchell needs to play off the ball. It’s too predictable with him running the offense. There isn’t a shot he doesn’t like and the others need to get touches.
I’m not a Porter guy. He is not a team first guy. Rockets are not keeping him. 2nd pick in draft is best thing that can happen to Rockets.
I’ll agree with you there, I’m not a Porter Jr. fan either, but someone like Mosby is hard to pass up. He reminds me a little of Duncan.
Mobley.