The Cleveland Cavaliers managed to avoid going 3-0 down against the Indiana Pacers. Donovan Mitchell put in yet another 40+ point shift to help the Cavs win by a huge 106-124 margin. Clearly, there was a lot riding on his game for him. But it seems this is where he and his coach, Kenny Atkinson, disagreed. This disagreement explains one incident during tonight’s game, though. Nonetheless, we need to understand where it stems from before anything else.
Despite a narrow yet tough loss in Game 2, the Cavs’ head coach didn’t seem all that worried. There was no urgency in his words or tone when he discussed Game 3 after going 2-0 down after Game 2. “We played our basketball, our identity, just, you know, tough one… I’ve been down 2-0 before at home. And, you know, we have enough talent. We have enough talent in there to go get game three,” he said. Well, he was proven right by his team tonight. However, Donovan Mitchell disputes the notion that Game 3 wasn’t a must-win for the Cavs.
Here’s what Mitchell said about Kenny not thinking Game 3 was do-or-die for the Cavs and what his own mindset was like heading into Game 3. “A thousand percent. I know he didn’t… But for me and my mental, I didn’t necessarily say that to everybody. I kind of kept that to myself because understanding that, ‘Hey, you go down 3-0 here, it’s tough.’… So, yeah, this was a must-win. We let one slip at home. Let the fans down at home, man. So, we got to find a way to bounce back. And we did. But ultimately, all we did was win one game. We got to do it again on Sunday,” said Mitchell about tonight’s game.
Feb 25, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images
And not adhering to his coach’s line of thought clearly worked for Mitchell tonight. He dropped 43 on the Cavs tonight, ending the game 1 board shy of a double-double. It was an inspired performance by Mitchell that reflected his aforementioned mentality perfectly. But his dropping 40+ points in consecutive games also kind of validated Coach Kenny.
While the Cavs did well in Game 2 and played their brand of basketball, they simply “ran out of gas”, as Atkinson put it. But in the final quarter, Donovan Mitchell sent a message to his team to ensure history didn’t repeat itself. Here’s what the Cavs star said about it after the game.
Donovan Mitchell reveals the message he gave his teammates in the dying minutes of Game 3
Donovan Mitchell was not leaving the arena without a win tonight. And to ensure victory tonight, with less than half of the final quarter remaining, Mitchell addressed his teammates. After the game, a reporter wanted to know what he told his fellow Cavs. Here’s what Mitchell said about it.
“Stay here. Like, you know, we did our job. We weathered their storm. Don’t let them counter that. Like, you know what I mean? I think that was the biggest message. It was about, I don’t know how much time was it, maybe like five, six minutes left. Like, we counted that. Now don’t let them do the same thing,” said Mitchell.
Feb 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts during the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
And clearly it worked. The Cavs slowed down in the 3rd quarter after winning the 2nd by a huge margin; however, unlike Game 2, where the Pacers outscored them in the 4th, tonight it was the Cavs who came out on top in the 4th, 29-25. But the pep talks didn’t end when the game did.
No, being the leader he is, Mitchell made sure his team knew that the job wasn’t over just because the Cavs won tonight. “I mean, yeah, it was 2-1. But we haven’t done anything. I mean, we won one game. You know, we got to do it again. That’s been my message. I told them we’re not celebrating, we’re not smiling. We came here to take two games, and we did one,” he said after the game.
If the Cavs can remember Mitchell’s words and keep this energy in Game 4, we may have a nailbiter of a series on our hands. Game 4 comes our way live from the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. And much like Game 3, this one’s going to be quite a high-stakes affair. So make sure you don’t miss the game or our coverage of it!
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