Donovan Mitchell Repeatedly Told Evan Mobley ‘We Need You To Be Aggressive’ After Cavaliers Lost Game 3 To Celtics

According to NBA reporter Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Donovan Mitchell repeatedly told Evan Mobley “we need you to be aggressive” after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 3 to the Boston Celtics. 

The Cavaliers lost Game 3 at home by a final score of 106-93. Mitchell finished with 33 points, while Mobley had 17. 

“In the hushed postgame locker room, Cavs star Donovan Mitchell grabbed Evan Mobley’s attention from two stalls away and offered some advice,” Fedor wrote in his NBA column. “We need you to be aggressive. Keep being aggressive. Mitchell must have repeated that same term nearly 10 times, trying to make the talented youngster understand how important he is to Cleveland’s success in this Eastern Conference semifinal series — and beyond.”

Mobley is averaging 18.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals and 1.0 blocks in the Celtics series while shooting 63.2% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc and 85.7% from the free-throw line. He’s second on the team in points per game, trailing only Mitchell. 

“That’s really my mindset throughout the rest of this series,” Mobley said. “Just trying to be aggressive, get to my spots and shoot those shots. … I feel like sometimes in the game we didn’t get to where we wanted to get to. They slowed our offense down or we got into it a little late in the shot clock and stuff like that. Gotta watch film and know what we’re gonna get into and get into it a little quicker.”

The Cavaliers are down 2-1 to the Celtics.

Mitchell, who is dealing with a left calf strain, is averaging 31.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the series while shooting 51.5% from the floor, 53.3% from beyond the arc and 78.6% from the free-throw line. 

For the Cavaliers to win Game 4, Mobley, Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, Max Strus and Isaac Okoro must have big games. Mitchell is a great player, but he can’t beat the Celtics alone.