As the playoffs commence, the Cleveland Cavaliers are embracing the immense pressure they face after their previous postseason shortcomings.
The NBA playoffs have officially arrived, and riding in with them are a wave of lofty expectations for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who's been making a point to stay off Twitter for several weeks now to avoid getting swept up in the outside noise of it all, knows better than anyone what this time of year means.
After last year's epic flameout that saw the 64-win Cavs bounced in the second round (again) in five games by the Indiana Pacers, it was a despondent Mitchell who asserted that going 82-0 wouldn't mean anything if it wasn't followed by a meaningful playoff run.
He was right.
This year, the Cavs enter the playoffs having scratched and clawed their way to a more modest 52-win campaign, battling never-ending injuries and over 40 different starting lineups to get there.
The team looks a lot different too, with Darius Garland and DeAndre Hunter gone, superstar James Harden has arrived, along with stout defender Keon Ellis, and irritant Dennis Schroeder.
That trio's arrival, Harden most notably, only heightened those expectations. And Mitchell isn't running from it.
"I'm sure that there's talk going on about [our expectations], but to me, it's just like 'hey, I'm trying to do everything I can to win this game and that's really where I'm at," said Mitchell. "At the end of the day, I can't worry about, that. I think it's more so an expectation, and if there wasn't that expectation it means we're not doing something right. You're not considered to be good. For me and for the group ... this is what we've been building for all year."
Mitchell isn't the only one embracing the pressure. The common theme throughout the week leading up to the Cavs first-round matchup with the Toronto Raptors is that this pressure is a privilege.
It's what everyone from Mitchell, Harden, and the rest of their teammates, to head coach Kenny Atkinson, signed up for.
"This is what we live for," said Atkinson. "This is the most exciting part of the year ... someone asked me if I feel pressure, yes I feel pressure, but you want to feel pressure at the elite level. You want that excitement, you want that nervousness. That's, as a competitor, that's everything."
Cleveland has the second-highest odds to win the Eastern Conference in most major sportsbooks. Boston is considered the favorite. And as far as title odds go, the Cavs come in fifth overall, with Western Conference foes like the Thunder, Spurs and Nuggets all ahead of them.
The odds have been in their favor before, though. The pundits have lined up to pick Cleveland to win it all before too.
None of that matters once the ball tips at Rocket Arena on Saturday afternoon. It's up to Mitchell and company to erase the pains of playoff past. Or at least show that they learned from them.
What happens from here will define how the 2025-26 Cavaliers are remembered. It may define how this era of basketball is remembered in Cleveland as well. Anything short of a conference run could trigger hefty roster changes this summer.
That's a lot of pressure. And yet, it's what the NBA is all about it.
"This is a great opportunity. It's on us in this locker room to go out and execute at the highest level. You prep, you do all the stuff we do, you sit in the gym for hours, you sit in the weight room, you don't get to eat out, I don't get to drink wine with my family and friends. You prep your mind, prep your body, you prep everything for this exact run. You're ready to run through a wall for it."
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