Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell: ‘We’ve Got To Figure It Out’

It’s been a rocky time for Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers. To say the least.

While the Cavs (45-30) still hold the third seed in the Eastern Conference, and second in the Central Division behind the Milwaukee Bucks, things don’t look right lately.

Part of that was because Mitchell missed time with knee and nose injuries. He’s now sporting a protective mask for games.

But part of it is the result of … well, something else. The Cavs have had their doors blown off twice in a week, each time by a Finalist from last season in the opponent’s building. First, it was Miami a week ago; then Denver on Easter Sunday.

In March alone, the Cavs experienced six double-digit losses. Yuck, yuck, and triple yuck.

So Mitchell let loose a little following the loss to the defending champion Nuggets.

“We can all point to s***,” Mitchell told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “It’s April. It’s f***** April. We’ve got to figure it out. Gotta be better.”

Interestingly, the Cavs won 17 of 18 to kick off 2024. Some against weaker opponents, but not all. After all, it actually started when they beat the mighty Bucks on their own court.

Regardless of who they beat, though, it was the way the Cavs were playing. They were moving the ball, making shots and really getting after it defensively. They clearly believed in the system, because it was working.

It had almost nothing to do with the schedule. It had considerably more with playing “Cavaliers basketball,” as coach J.B. Bickerstaff likes to put it.

But on Sunday, when talking about the Nuggets, he sang a different tune.

“(The Nuggets are) sound all around,” Bickerstaff told reporters. “They understand and believe in their system. That’s something we’re working towards.”

That last sentence raised some eyebrows, because the Cavs sure seemed to be closer to a winning product two months ago. Why all of a sudden are they a work in progress?

Bickerstaff also said it’s up to him to figure it out. That part is true, but it’s also up to the players. The Cavs have not been the same since Darius Garland has returned. They’ve been worse. The decline is certainly not all Garland’s fault, but that is the only connection being made by the fans.

But it’s everyone’s fault.

That said, this is the NBA and you can get things turned around quickly, because there’s always another game around the bend. 

No less than their leading scorer and lone All-Star is insisting that now is the time to get it together.