{"id":688750,"date":"2026-05-23T14:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688750\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T14:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:58:08","slug":"down-0-2-donovan-mitchell-and-the-cavaliers-have-been-here-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688750\/","title":{"rendered":"Down 0-2? Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers have been here before"},"content":{"rendered":"

IN THE VISITORS locker room in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> had sealed their Game 7 victory over the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals, coach Kenny Atkinson paused and pointed to a single player across the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe turn to you,\u201d Atkinson said to the team\u2019s superstar and most consistent player, Donovan Mitchell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mitchell had responded after one of his most disappointing games of the postseason — a 6-for-20 shooting, 18-point dud in Game 6 — with one of his most complete games: 26 points on 10-for-22 shooting and his playoff-high eight assists to win Game 7 and eliminate the top-seeded Pistons.<\/p>\n

Atkinson had devised a postgame plan prior to the game with Cleveland\u2019s season hanging in the balance. He wanted to highlight Mitchell, regardless of whether the Cavs advanced beyond the second round or their season ended that night.<\/p>\n

The reason was simple: It was Mitchell who had guided the Cavs throughout a turbulent season, from preseason favorites, to barely above .500 in December, to a franchise-altering trade, to a pair of seven-game series through the first two rounds. In the locker room, Atkinson continued his tribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just your on court, but your leadership,\u201d he said. \u201cYour positivity when things were really not going great. Whether we won or lost tonight, we never celebrate you in these things — you don\u2019t want that, you don\u2019t want the praise — but tonight you deserve the praise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mitchell has made the postseason in each of his first nine seasons. But each of his first three years in Cleveland has ended in disappointment. An embarrassing first-round exit to the Knicks in 2023, losing two straight years in the conference semifinals, including last season as the No.1 seed in the conference.<\/p>\n

In this, his ninth season, the six-time All-Star has led his team to the conference finals for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I leaned on him,\u201d Atkinson said before the start of Game 2 in New York. \u201cThat\u2019s the first place to go when you\u2019re struggling, to your leader. We had a lot of conversations, just talking through things, how we can get this thing back on track. And again, he never kind of swayed towards the negative.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Atkinson finished, he turned the locker room over to Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoy it,\u201d Mitchell told the team. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t just come here to do this.”<\/p>\n

Still, the start of the conference finals has fit the theme of the Cavaliers\u2019 rocky 2025-26. They blew a 22-point lead in Game 1, an epic collapse in NBA playoff lore. In Game 2, they lost by 16 in a game that was rarely competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sitting here like, oh man, scrambling and trying to figure things out,\u201d Mitchell said after the Cavaliers fell to 0-2. \u201cAt the end of the day, we make some shots, we\u2019ll be in good shape. … We\u2019ll make our adjustments. We\u2019ll be at home and protect home court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as the series shifts to Cleveland on Saturday for Game 3, the Cavaliers are confronting a similar reality: They\u2019ll need to lean on Mitchell once again to save their season.<\/p>\n

The good news, for them, is that he has already done it before, some six months ago.<\/p>\n

IN WHAT WOULD ultimately prove to be a preview of their Game 1 loss to the Knicks, the Cavs also blew a double-digit lead on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Cleveland had carried a 96-84 advantage into the fourth quarter and extended the lead by as many as 17 points.<\/p>\n

But the Knicks stormed back, winning the fourth quarter 42-28, behind 34 points from Jalen Brunson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the crushing loss, the visitors locker room was somber — and quiet. <\/p>\n

Mitchell, who had 34 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals, sat alone at his locker, reflecting on the night\u2019s loss and the Cavaliers\u2019 maddening start to the campaign.<\/p>\n

He had played one of his best games of the season, yet the Cavs lost and were barely hovering above .500.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could just tell it really weighed on him,\u201d Cavaliers forward Dean Wade<\/a> told ESPN. \u201cHe played out of his mind, he played his heart out. … It was unbelievable. Hitting tough shots, doing everything he could to win. It really was awesome to watch. We just didn\u2019t play with the same intensity he played with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Mitchell called everyone\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to be better,\u201d Mitchell told the team. And then he started passing out words of encouragement<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like, \u2018We good,\u2019\u201d Wade said. \u201c\u2018We\u2019re fine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the Cavaliers continued to falter. Two nights later, the Cavs lost by 17 points in Houston. Their record fell to 17-16.<\/p>\n

Despite the preseason hype — some experts had predicted Cleveland would win the East — the Cavs were injured, disjointed and alarmingly average.<\/p>\n

With the season in disarray, it was Mitchell who remained the team\u2019s constant. His usage rate on the court climbed during the first half of the season to levels he hadn\u2019t seen since his time in Utah. But, perhaps more importantly, his teammates saw the way he reinforced his belief in the group in the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s our vocal leader. He\u2019s our leader in general,\u201d Wade told ESPN. \u201cWe go as he goes. When we were having a little rough parts of the season, he was just monumental. He just kept us together, didn\u2019t let us split at all, kept everything positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly, they began to believe, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just told us, \u2018We got so much talent in this locker room. We\u2019re going through a rough patch right now, but keep putting in the work, keep coming in every day, have your routine, stick to it, believe in it and believe in each other. It\u2019ll all come together.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I mean, we all did that. Injuries happen here and there, which kind of messed some things up, but we truly believed in it. He was the engine to that. Pushed us through the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day after that loss to Houston, Cavs players came together for a film session. It had been organized by Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when we tried to flush what had happened in the prior season, kind of started over,\u201d Wade said. \u201cWe came out and we played with way better energy. That was our biggest thing. We were playing so flat before that. No energy, no passion. He did a great job of just instilling all the belief in us and helping us get over that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleveland won its next game, a 113-101 victory at San Antonio on Dec. 29. It wasn\u2019t Mitchell\u2019s best game — he scored just 10 points — but he added seven assists and finished a game-high plus-15 while on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that just relentless positivity that he has,\u201d Cleveland guard Sam Merrill<\/a> said. \u201cYeah, he\u2019ll yell occasionally and get after it, but it\u2019s always finishing off with positivity. And that\u2019s what we\u2019ve needed at times during this season when we were struggling early. His leadership, his commitment to developing camaraderie and chemistry, all that stuff he does such a great job of. That\u2019s why we look up to him so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cavs turned around their season after Christmas, catapulting back up the Eastern Conference standings with a 35-16 record to finish as the No. 4 seed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll follow him into war,\u201d Cavs center Jarrett Allen<\/a> said. \u201cI\u2019ll trust every single decision that he makes. Every shot that he takes. And every single word that he speaks in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE CAVS HAVE endured some devastating losses throughout this playoff run.<\/p>\n

They had a chance to close out their first-round series against the Raptors in Game 6 in Toronto, before RJ Barrett<\/a>\u2019s game winner bounced high off the rim and into the hoop.<\/p>\n

They fell behind 0-2 against the Pistons in the conference semifinals, and then after taking a 3-2 advantage, they blew a chance to close out the series at home in Game 6.<\/p>\n

Throughout the run, Mitchell\u2019s steadiness has sustained them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also helps when you got a lot of playoff experience,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cThis is four years now together where we\u2019ve been through playoffs. And honestly, some of them have gone sideways, some of them haven\u2019t exactly gone our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

After falling behind 0-2 on Thursday night against the Knicks, Mitchell reiterated his confidence in the team, spilling clich\u00e9 after clich\u00e9 about processes, shotmaking and giving credit where it\u2019s due.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo need to get discouraged,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cWe just got to go to Cleveland and handle business.\u201d The message, apparently sent immediately after their Game 2 loss, seemed to penetrate every corner of the locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been here before,\u201d Evan Mobley<\/a> said. \u201cWe know what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just how our whole playoffs have been,\u201d Allen added. \u201cOur back is against the wall. We like to keep things interesting. We like to keep everybody stressing about what the next game is going to be like. This is no different from what we\u2019re doing now. We\u2019ve got to take care of home court now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only two teams in NBA history have rallied from multiple 2-0 deficits in the same playoffs (the 2020-21 LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>). Yet, it\u2019s a challenge Mitchell has been ready to embrace with the same steady mantra that kept the Cavs afloat all season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the work you put in,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cIn tough moments, in anything, life or the game, if you don\u2019t have anything to pull from, if you don\u2019t have a foundation or something that you work hard at — Kenny was stressing that throughout the whole playoffs, it\u2019s like, \u2018This is why we work harder. This is why we\u2019ve did the extra sprints. These are all the things that we\u2019ve done.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why you do those things,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cSo you don\u2019t waver.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"IN THE VISITORS locker room in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers had sealed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,122281,459,115893,82],"class_list":["post-688750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cleveland-cavaliers-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-5","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks-sports-basketball-team-team-statscom-18","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}