The Cleveland Cavaliers may still be reeling from the dogfight they had with the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2026 NBA playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Cavs came out of the gates with so much lethargy, falling behind by 16 points at the end of the first quarter of Game 1 in their semifinal matchup against the Detroit Pistons on their way to suffering a 111-101 defeat.
In particular, the Cavs could not take care of the basketball, coughing the ball up a total of 19 times, which the Pistons converted for 31 points. Moreover, there is worrying underlying trend that is plaguing Cleveland over the past few ballgames aside from the fact that they simply cannot buy a win on the road.
As Keerthika Uthayakumar of StatKeeks pointed out, Donovan Mitchell’s production has fallen off over the past six games. From averaging 31 points on a true shooting of 66.4 percent, the Cavs star is now averaging 20.3 points on 48.3 percent true shooting over his past six ballgames.
Mitchell has a history of rising to the occasion in the playoffs, but this has been a stark contrast to the way he’s produced in years past. Perhaps a ton of credit must go to the likes of Ja’Kobe Walter and Ausar Thompson for slowing Mitchell down considerably, but even then, it’s not like the Cavs star can’t produce against even the best defenders in the NBA.
Mitchell did lead the Cavs in scoring in Game 1, recording 23 points on 9-19 shooting from the field (4-10 from beyond the arc). But the Cavs need more from their best player, and the 29-year-old star has to find a higher gear if Cleveland were to finally steal a game on the road in the 2026 NBA playoffs.
Game 2 of the Cavs-Pistons series will be on Thursday, May 7, at 7:00 AM E.T., as Cleveland will be looking to steal homecourt advantage.