Cavs Notes: Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, turnovers, Game 7

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers’ season comes down to one game. Yes, once again.

They had a chance to close it out at home and punch a ticket to the Eastern Conference finals. Instead, they were run off the floor in a 115-94 home loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 6.

Now it’s Game 7. On the road.

“We missed an opportunity,” Donovan Mitchell said. “We can’t do anything about it. Got to go out there and win on the road.”

Cleveland’s first home loss of the postseason couldn’t have come at a worse time.

No Response

This wasn’t about one stretch. It was about all of them.

The Cavs trailed for 38 minutes and by as many as 22 in the fourth. They never found rhythm. Never found force. Never found answers.

“When we get hit in the mouth, we didn’t punch back,” Mitchell said. “We have throughout the course of the playoffs. Tonight, we didn’t do that.”

That showed up everywhere.

James Harden led Cleveland with 23 points but committed eight turnovers. Mitchell finished with 18 on 6-of-20 shooting. Evan Mobley added 18.

As a team, Cleveland turned it over 20 times, leading to 28 Detroit points. The Cavs shot just 39 percent.

“We never really got it to that second level,” Harden said. “We had opportunity in small spurts but it was never really a consistent flow on both ends.”

Little things, big problem

Even the moments that felt like turning points didn’t last.

A brief second-quarter surge. A little juice from Sam Merrill after a flagrant sequence. It all faded.

Detroit answered every time. A sloppy inbounds turnover led to a runout dunk. Missed assignments piled up. The details slipped, and the game followed.

It was that kind of night.

Now,  it’s about thing

There’s no mystery now. Win or go home.

To save the season. To avoid blowing a 3-2 lead. To reach the conference finals. It all sits there in Game 7.

“Everything you want is on the other side of hard,” Mitchell said. “Nothing good comes easy… We have another opportunity. That’s the mindset.”

One more shot. That’s it.

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