Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell had a painfully honest admission after the Cavs fell in five games to the New York Knicks following a 106-95 loss to New York in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“It’s not always going to go your way,” Mitchell said, via ESPN Cavs beat reporter Danny Cunningham. “And it sucks. It hurts. It’s terrible. I’m riding 30 minutes of sleep here, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I work hard for this. You go through this beauty and the struggle. This, there’s going to be a time where we figure this out.
“I’m six years in and I haven’t made it past the second round. There’s going to be a time where I figure it out and it’s coming. But if I’m not going to let this, and I don’t think any of us going to let this define us, define me and I’ll be better for it. We’ll be better for it.”
Donovan Mitchell said he slept at about 9:30 this morning and woke up at around 10 a.m., according to The Athletic’s Kelsey Russo and Elyria Chronicle-Telegram beat writer Bob Finnan.
“It’s not how I planned for it to end,” said Mitchell, via Russo. “It’s tough. But trying to find that grace in it as well. We’ve accomplished so much as a group.”
Donovan Mitchell has made the playoffs every year of his young career, starting with a series against the Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder in 2018, according to Basketball Reference. The Jazz defeated the Thunder in six games before moving on to face a Houston Rockets team featuring James Harden and Chris Paul, where they would fall in five games behind the scoring prowess of both Harden and Paul.
Mitchell and the Jazz made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs in 2021 after defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in five contests, losing in six as forwards Paul George and Kawhi Leonard scored 29 and 27.3 points per game, respectively.