The best players elevate their game in the playoffs. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has done that throughout his career according to his counting stats. Mitchell’s average playoff points, rebounds, and steals are all up from his regular-season totals. On top of that, his assists are nearly the same, and his incredible efficiency dips just slightly in the postseason.
In short, Mitchell has been an incredible individual playoff performer. The only issue is that his team hasn’t advanced past
the second round in eight playoff runs.
Is this an indication that Mitchell can’t be the best offensive player on a championship contender? Or have Mitchell’s teams just not been good enough to compete for a title?
The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Mitchell’s physicality and ability to get to the rim make him the effective player that he is. This is different from other elite guards, such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton, or Steph Curry, who utilize some level of craft or outside shotmaking to be the game-changing players they are. We’ve repeatedly seen that translate to team postseason success while Mitchell’s game hasn’t.
The issue isn’t so much that Mitchell can’t get to his spots the same way he can in the regular season. It’s that it’s more taxing in a playoff environment that allows for more physicality, which has continually led to his body letting him down as the postseason progresses.
For instance, in 2024 Mitchell carried the Cavs to victory in Game 7 of their first-round matchup against the Orlando Magic and then followed it up with an incredible Game 2 against the eventual champion Boston Celtics to steal home-court advantage. In a vacuum, there was nothing from either outing that wasn’t repeatable in a controlled setting. And, both performances were good enough to carry his team to victory. The only issue is that the playoffs aren’t played in a vacuum. Mitchell broke down after Game 3, and so did the Cavs’ chance to do anything that postseason.
The cycle repeated last year. Mitchell was phenomenal against the Indiana Pacers until he wasn’t. He controlled Game 2 by tallying 48 points on 14-23 shooting inside the arc. The Pacers simply had no answer for him inside the paint other than knocking him on his back when he drove through the lane.
Indiana didn’t have to wait long to reap the benefits of this strategy. Mitchell’s lateral movement was completely gone in the closing minutes of Game 2 as the Cavs’ lead evaporated. Even though he had good moments for the remainder of the series, the physicality he played with for most of Game 2 never returned as he persevered through a calf strain for the remainder of the series.
There is also a conversation to be had about whether Mitchell dominating the ball as much as he does in big games is best for the team. There were instances in the second half of Game 5 against the Pacers where you would’ve preferred Mitchell to get the ball to Evan Mobley more. There’s a balance that Mitchell needs to find in some of these bigger moments if the Cavs are to get over the hump.
Mitchell talked about playing the “most mature basketball” of his career last season. He pointed to picking it up on the defensive end and on the offensive glass in the playoffs as examples of that. While it’s true that he has made progress in these areas and others, there’s still more work to be done.
Getting over the hump in the playoffs will come down to several things. Mitchell has the skills to take over playoff games, but if the Cavs require him to do that every outing, then there’s only so far that’ll get you given his size and playing style.
He needs Mobey and Darius Garland to take some of the on-ball creation and scoring pressure off him. Both will need to step up in a way they haven’t in the playoffs, and Mitchell will need to give them more of an opportunity to do so.
Mitchell also has to do a better job of picking and choosing his battles. Koby Altman, Cavs’ president of basketball operations, spoke at media day about how they want to make sure Mitchell is peaking in June when the team hopes to be competing for a championship. They have a plan in place to do that. Let’s see if that stays in place when they inevitably face adversity next playoffs.
Mitchell has accomplished nearly all that he can in the regular season. The same can’t be said about the postseason. Whether or not he breaks through will determine how his on-court career will be remembered years from now. This year is a golden opportunity to change the narrative that Mitchell’s teams can’t get past the second round and be legitimate title contenders. We’ll have to wait until spring to see if he can do so.
