Donovan Mitchell Urges Cavaliers to Look 'Inward' After Collapse to 76ers

The Cleveland Cavaliers had a 29-point lead against LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday. 

76ers fans were booing James and Co. and Donovan Mitchell and Co. were clicking on all cylinders. 

It appeared Cleveland would easily spoil James' first home game with Philadelphia. 

However, the 76ers outscored the Cavaliers 37-21 in the third quarter and 32-16 in the fourth quarter to win the game 114-106. It was an epic collapse by Cleveland. 

Mitchell, who led the Cavaliers with 32 points, spoke to reporters about the latest tumble by the Wine and Gold. 

“They were pressuring in the second half. Now it’s on us to figure out a solution,” Mitchell said. “So now we see it and we make an adjustment. It’s not cool that we lost. It’s still disappointing. There’s a lesson to be learned. There’s stuff that we can get better at.”

Cleveland made the conference finals last season for the first time without James on the roster since 1992. The Cavaliers should have won Game 1 in New York against the Knicks at MSG. Trailing by 22 points with 8:19 left in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the Knicks had Jalen Brunson go at James Harden on defense and it got ugly for Harden and Co.

The result was a 44-11 flurry by New York in the fourth quarter and overtime, completing one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history with a 115-104 victory.

Clearly, the Cavaliers didn't learn anything this summer, as they choked against the 76ers on national television. Again!

“They’re a good team but at the end of the day, this loss is on us more so than them,” Mitchell said. "But ultimately, we didn’t pull out the victory, and that’s tough. That’s not a feeling we want to continue to have. But like I said, looking inward as opposed to outward.”  

Mitchell signed a four-year, $273 million maximum contract extension this offseason. He shot 11-of-19 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line in 35 minutes.

Mitchell entered this season with career averages of 25.1 points per game in the regular season and 27.8 points per game in the playoffs with the Utah Jazz and Cavaliers. He will likely make the Hall of Fame one day. 

This season, Mitchell will try to do what LeBron did in 2016. The 2015-16 Cavaliers won the 2016 championship against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors for the only NBA title in Cleveland franchise history. 

To win it all, Mitchell and the Cavaliers need to learn how to close game.