In the third quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers season opening, road matchup with the New York Knicks, Donovan Mitchell knew his team needed a spark. With his team trailing by 15 points (65-50) out of the half, Mitchell put on his cape and tried to single-handedly bring his team back. 

He nearly pulled it off, dropping 22 of his 31 points in that quarter alone and dragging Cleveland into an 87-87 tie with New York going into the fourth. It was pure brilliance from the Cavs' biggest star. But it was also night one of the season. 

"He got hot, and we just started basically running everything for him," head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game. He knows it's not sustainable, though "But we got to be careful, right? Because there's a limit to that." 

One of Atkinson's biggest goals upon being hired as the team's head coach before the 2024-25 season was to do a better job of managing Mitchell's minutes throughout the grind of an 82-game regular season. It's something his predecessor, Detroit Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff did poorly. 

Year one was a success from that standpoint. Mitchell averaged 31.4 minutes per game last season, down from 35.3 a season prior. Mitchell's minutes are up slightly from last year through the first few games of this season, as he's hovering just over 33 minutes per game.

The slight increase is likely due to several players being sidelined with injuries, including Darius Garland and Max Strus, who have yet to play this season. As Atkinson highlighted, however, it's not a sustainable way for Mitchell to navigate the season. 

Cleveland Cavaliers Postgame Report: Cavs Outplayed by Boston in Disappointing Loss The Cleveland Cavaliers were embarrassed by the Boston Celtics on the road on Wednesday night. Cleveland was outplayed, outshot, out-hustled, and was thoroug...

Which brings us to Cleveland's 125-105 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. Before the game even started Mitchell was a surprise addition to the pregame injury report with what was described as hamstring tightness. He wound up playing and got off to a blistering start that saw him drop 12 points in the first quarter, shooting 4-for-4 from the floor and three. His efficiency dropped off a cliff in the second quarter where he made just one shot (a three) on four attempts. It wound up being his last bucket of the entire game. 

Mitchell seemed fatigued. He wasn't getting downhill and attacking the basket the way he's accustomed to. He's at his best when he's able to do that. 

One of the defining sequences of the game came with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Mitchell went o-for-2 at the charity stripe and on the second miss, Boston pushed the ball up the floor and Anfernee Simons knocked down a three to push the lead back to 17.

It was just one of those nights for the Cavs. And one of those nights for Mitchell, but it's impossible to ignore some signs of fatigue. The random hamstring injury. His inability to get to the basket. His total disappearance. 

The schedule has been a bit grueling in the early going – Cleveland played back-to-back on Sunday and Monday to cap off a stretch of three games in four nights. The injuries obviously haven't helped matters, either. 

It's far too early in the season for Mitchell to be dealing with soft tissue injuries and fading late in games. Out of necessity he's being asked to do a lot early on, but Atkinson himself admitted on opening night, there are limits to it. 

Managing Mitchell's usage is a balancing act and the Cavs have to be careful.