Donovan Mitchell admits hard truth behind Cleveland Cavaliers Eastern Conference Finals deficitto New York Knicks, as season hits life support.
Donovan Mitchell's honesty echoed through the bowels of Rocket Arena on Saturday night.
"We did it to ourselves," he said to a question about whether or not the every-other-day grind of the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run since April 29 had taken its toll in an Eastern Conference Finals playoff series with the New York Knicks.
With the Cavs now trailing the best-of-seven series 0-3 following a 121-108 loss in Game 3, fatigue is a pretty obvious culprit. Combined with the fact that the Knicks are shooting at a historic clip over their last 10 playoff games, it's simply a perfect storm for a short series.
It doesn't take a rocket a scientist to realize just how gassed this team is. It shows up in ever nook and cranny of the box score. Cleveland's shot-making has totally disappeared, and the misses often come up short of the basket, a telltale sign of fatigue.
New York outscored Cleveland 17-4 in Game 3 on fastbreak points, a testament to the fact that they're not pushing the ball enough in transition, and are too gassed to get back on defense when the Knicks get those opportunities themselves.
Maybe the most telling sign of all is Mitchell himself. The Cavs biggest star hasn't been able to get past his man on those patented cutting layups in weeks. He's also lost his three-point shot, to the point where he's knocking them down at a meager 31% clip.
He continues to say he's not hurt and he's not on the Cavaliers' injury report so we have to take him at his word. But if it's not a legitimate injury, at the very least, fatigue has set in. Something is preventing him from being himself.
The frustrating part is, as Mitchell so eloquently pointed out, this could have been avoided.
Cleveland could have won an ugly Game 4 in Toronto where they led by 8 with 4:55 to play, and then again by 5 with 2:10 to play only to score just two points over the final two minutes and lose 93-89.
That loss prolonged a series that could have ended in five when it shifted back to Rocket Arena. Instead it went the full seven.
Cleveland could have simply won Game 6 against the Detroit Pistons at home last round, and bought themselves a few extra days off between Games 2 and 3 of this series. Instead, they got blown out on their home floor and had to go back to Detroit for a do-or-die Game 7.
There was also Game 1 of this very series. Another thing Mitchell was blunt about.
"Don't lose Game 1 after being up 22," he asserted. "Changes the entire dynamic of the series."
He's unequivocally right. Down 2-1 in a series is much different than the ever insurmountable 0-3 hole. But again, this was all avoidable.
The physical factor isn't likely to get better in time for Monday's Game 4. It's another game with just one day of rest in between.
Dsperation has a funny way of bringing out the best in teams, as it did for the wine and gold in those previous Game 7 scenarios.
This time, though, the empty light has officially kicked on. There's only so many miles left in these Cavs, Monday seems likely to run them dry.
It didn't have to be this way, and yet, here we are.
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