There was a before and after All-Star Game for the Cavaliers. While Cleveland seemed launched with an almost perfect first month and a half to start 2024, the Cavaliers have been slipping since, despite the returns from injury of Darius Garland or Evan Mobley. The performance of the Cavs on Sunday on the Denver floor, for a large 130-101 defeat at the defending champion, further spread the margin which today separates the 3rd in the East from the top of the league. And this does not please at all Donovan Mitchell.
While his team had started the season smoothly, the former Jazz player had asked for patience. The 23 victories in 28 games between the end of December and mid-February had proved him right, but now the Cavaliers fell back into their mistakes, between lack of rhythm and apathy in rebounding (51 to 28 for Denver on Sunday).
“ I told you at the start of the season that if we had a problem at this stage of the season, then that would be a problem. » lamented Donovan Mitchell. “ This can't happen. I can say all this now, we have to find a way to understand what's going on. We have to watch the match again on video and find out what we know how to do. But this can't happen anymore. It's April. It's April, damn it. We must understand. »
Mitchell at the bottom of the hole, the Cavs with
In the Rockies, the Cavaliers were far from the mark, sometimes even lost, as if their bearings had vanished. “ The Nuggets look in tune, they understand and believe in their system » summed up Cleveland coach JB Bickerstaff. “ This is something we are working on. »
Like his sidekick Darius Garland, incredibly shy (5 points at 2/8), Donovan Mitchell also got through it in Denver, still embarrassed by his mask after his broken nose. With 13 points at 3/12, two days after having signed 12 units at 4/13, the guard experienced a series of last five games without reaching 20 points, something never seen before for him since his rookie season between the 15th and the 19th match of his career!
“ I'm working to get back to full speed. It's natural, I'm not worried about it. I just continue to repeat the efforts and build mental confidence in this period. I'm fine in the end. I have to play better, we all have to play better. I'm not going to sit back and point fingers at this excuse. Everyone should see things like that. But it's April… We have to be better. »
Her coach JB Bickerstaff also admitted that it would probably take a little time for her star to “ finds your rhythm again » after still missing 15 of the Cavaliers' last 22 games.
However, the Ohio franchise is starting to run out of time to maintain its place on the Eastern podium. The Knicks are only one victory behind, while the Magic only have one and a half losses to make up for. The schedule is not the most lenient with a “road trip” to the West started in Denver and which will continue in particular in Phoenix and against the two Los Angeles franchises. Before that, the return of Donovan Mitchell to Salt Lake City on Tuesday will perhaps allow him to regain his splendor in attack.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Donovan Mitchell | 50 | 35.3 | 46.6 | 36.9 | 86.3 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 6.1 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 27.1 |
| Darius Garland | 50 | 33.3 | 44.9 | 36.4 | 83.9 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 6.5 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 18.3 |
| Jarrett Allen | 69 | 31.6 | 63.1 | 0.0 | 74.4 | 3.2 | 7.5 | 10.7 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 16.3 |
| Evan Mobley | 42 | 30.7 | 58.2 | 37.2 | 70.1 | 2.3 | 7.6 | 9.9 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.8 | 15.6 |
| Caris Levert | 61 | 28.7 | 40.7 | 31.1 | 74.7 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 13.6 |
| Max Strus | 62 | 32.0 | 41.8 | 34.6 | 78.8 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 12.4 |
| Georges Niang | 74 | 22.6 | 45.6 | 38.5 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.4 | 9.6 |
| Isaac Okoro | 65 | 27.4 | 48.6 | 38.8 | 68.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 9.4 |
| Sam Merrill | 56 | 17.8 | 41.0 | 41.0 | 92.3 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 8.3 |
| Marcus Morris | 6 | 18.0 | 44.1 | 44.4 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 7.0 |
| Craig Porter, Jr. | 48 | 13.3 | 50.9 | 35.3 | 73.2 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 5.9 |
| Dean Wade | 54 | 20.5 | 41.4 | 39.1 | 76.9 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| Tristan Thompson | 44 | 11.9 | 63.6 | 0.0 | 30.0 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 3.5 |
| Damian Jones | 33 | 7.4 | 60.3 | 18.2 | 85.0 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.9 |
| Emoni Bates | 13 | 7.8 | 32.4 | 32.1 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 2.6 |
| Isaiah Mobley | 6 | 8.5 | 38.5 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.0 |
| Ty Jerome | 2 | 7.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Pete Nance | 4 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
