Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers silence the narratives with gutsy Game 7 win

CLEVELAND — You need resiliency? You need toughness? Here it is. 

Down 18 at residence in an elimination recreation after a gut-twisting loss in Game 6. Their star participant hobbled and exhausted. Their coach preventing for his job. The season half-hour from extinction.

It felt over till it didn’t. The ending was catastrophic till it wasn’t. 

Donovan Mitchell can’t get out of the first spherical. The Cavs can’t win a playoff sequence with out LeBron James. 

Mitchell and the Cavs, two entities seemingly haunted by their previous, uniting to unburden their troubles on a younger Orlando Magic workforce that’s near changing into an actual downside in the Eastern Conference. But not but.

If a playoff sequence doesn’t start till the street workforce wins, as we’ve typically been led to imagine, then this one by no means actually started. And but it ended a lot. 

The Cavs by no means should once more hear about the New York Knicks final 12 months or their incapability to win in the postseason with out LeBron James. Mitchell doesn’t have to listen to about his first-round flameouts the final two years. 

Through the first 5 video games of this sequence, Mitchell struggled badly. He merely wasn’t excellent for lengthy stretches. In the final two video games, regardless of a hobbled knee, he was the finest participant on the ground. His 89 factors are the second-most in Games 6 and 7 of a sequence in NBA historical past. He fell one level shy of Allen Iverson’s file in 2001. 

He pulled and dragged and shoved his teammates larger and carried them additional than they’ve ever been the final three days. It took longer than anticipated, however this is strictly why the Cavs traded for him. To lead and information the youngsters. And after they couldn’t do it, he tried doing all of it himself in Sunday’s 106-94 Game 7 win. 

One of my largest gripes for the final two years has been too many gamers standing round ready for Mitchell to bail them out. That actually occurred in Game 6 in Orlando, however not this time. 

When he wanted the assist in Sunday’s Game 7, Isaac Okoro was there to alter the recreation on the defensive finish in the third quarter, Sam Merrill was there for a pair of essential 3s in the second quarter when hope was fading and, sure, Darius Garland was there for a giant nook 3-pointer in the fourth quarter that led to a protracted embrace between the mentor and the mentee. 

Merrill struggled discovering a job and constant minutes regardless of being the Cavs’ finest 3-point weapon in a sequence that lacked constant capturing. I requested Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff earlier than the recreation how he decides how a lot leash to present Merrill. 

He stated it mainly will depend on how a lot Garland and Mitchell play collectively in these video games. 

“The more those guys play together, the less opportunity there is for a guy like Sam,” Bickerstaff stated. 

Bickerstaff very properly could be teaching for his job lately, so he combined issues up a bit Sunday. He began the second quarter with a lineup of (*7*), Tristan Thompson, Georges Niang, Garland and Merrill that performed a grand complete of eight minutes collectively all season. He additionally gave Merrill an extended leash with 9 minutes in the second quarter and 11 for the recreation. Merrill responded with two large 3s that injected life onto the ground. 

The Cavs should maintain in search of pockets of minutes for Merrill shifting ahead. At least give him a few pictures to see if it’s falling. When it’s not, transfer on. When he’s sizzling, he can swing a sequence as he did in the second quarter Sunday. 

Defensive leaders in the 2024 Playoffs:

Contested pictures:
102 – Evan Mobley
66 – Brook Lopez
65 – Hartenstein, Embiid

Blocks:
21 – Evan Mobley
11 – Chet Holmgren
9- DJJ, Embiid, Isaac

Loose Balls recovered:
13 – Josh Hart
12 – Evan Mobley
12 – Joel Embiid pic.twitter.com/XhSupa62on

— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) May 5, 2024

Garland had one other horrendous capturing day. He missed 10 of his first 11 pictures. When he missed a nook 3 halfway by the fourth, Okoro grabbed the rebound and gave it to Mitchell, who instantly swung it again to Garland once more in the nook. He made it the second time. 

Mitchell handed up a layup in the course of, so I requested him if the move again to Garland in the nook was intentional to get Garland one other look or if it was the proper basketball play. He stated each, however primarily it was intentional. He may’ve gotten the layup, however he wished Garland to shoot it once more. 

Garland scored 10 factors in the fourth quarter with three assists. He didn’t flip the ball over as soon as. 

The Cavs are going to wish a significantly better model of Garland shifting ahead than what they obtained towards the Magic. Mitchell stored emphasizing that the Cavs haven’t achieved something but, and he’s proper.

“When they traded for me, it wasn’t just to win a first-round series,” Mitchell stated. 

It was for extra, rather more. But this was an essential step to get to the extra. The activity will get extremely more durable now. The Boston Celtics have been the finest workforce in the East all season. 

Maybe that is all they wanted. Maybe a first-round win, dimming the lights a bit and outrunning their historical past is sufficient to permit them to play extra freely in the weeks forward. We’ll know quickly sufficient. 

It’s May now. LeBron is at residence, whereas the Cavaliers play on.

(David Liam Kyle /NBAE by way of Getty Images)