Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell had an uplifting message after the Cavs’ series loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Playoffs.
“You can’t let one series define you as a group or as a player, as an individual,” Mitchell said, via Bally Sports Ohio. “I think we have a special group that can do a lot of different things and continue to grow. I had a playoff series against Houston. I shot something like 30% from the field, 20% from 3. The last game, the elimination in Game 5, I shot 4-22 from the field.
“That forever changed me, like as a player. That moment was always in my head. That series. And I haven’t missed an All-Star game since that. It just changed my trajectory in a positive way.”
Donovan Mitchell shot 4-22 in Game 5 of a 2019 first-round series against the Houston Rockets. Though he missed every one of his 3-point attempts and turned the ball over five times at the Toyota Center, he still found a way to score in double digits after sinking four of his five free throw attempts.
“I feel like everybody in that locker room has their own story of that,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I feel like this is a part of it. I think this is a part of a team. There’s stuff that just motivates you and fuels you. There’s going to be talk. It’s going to be on (Instagram), it’s going to be on Twitter. They’re going to talk about these different things. But I think we have the group and the character to push forward and continue to get better.
“I don’t think it changes the view of myself or anybody in this locker room. We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do. (Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo) had a phenomenal quote yesterday. We failed. We continue to push, step and build. I’m excited to build with this group.”