Donovan Mitchell is officially on his deepest playoff run. This is the first time he’s won 3 games in the second round.
Lost 2-4 in 2021
Lost 1-4 in 2018, 2024, 2025
Lost in the 1R in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
This is officially new ground for him.
Pretty crazy given he was on a 64 win Cavs team and a 60 win pace Jazz team
Haliburton gives me nightmares
The Pacers team last year had 3 or 4 of the craziest wins I’ve ever seen felt like the team of destiny
I legit stopped watching the playoffs after we lost to them I was so pissed
And then the gods cursed them in the last game of the nba finals, like some dark humour
I don’t think I’ve ever been more upset at something that didn’t happen to my own team. Just devastating. Hali should’ve gotten a ring
The blood demon always demands a sacrifice sadly
What gets lost in pacers Knicks game 1 is that the pacers did basically the same thing to the bucks in round 1 and twice to the Cavs
And to the Thunder in game 1 of the finals
Watching Myles Turner hit that side step middy and realising they were turning aim bot on was devastating.
Only one comeback against Cavs. The other notable game was where we just wiped the floor with them from the jump. G4.
Against a Cavs team missing 4 starters by the end
Weren’t both Games 1 and 5 comebacks?
the only team who actually can beat the Thunder. If Hali as not injured they might be the Champs last year.
I legit couldn’t stop watching. Absolute miracles happening out there. Team of destiny was right (until it wasn’t).
That RJ shot in game 6 gave me all kinds of PTSD.
Nba finals is free now that there’s no helliburton
Tbf yall were also missing garland and Mobley for a lot of that series
Mobley missed a game. Garland missed 2.
Garland played with a broken foot, Mobley played though a multitude of injuries.
That run will go down in history as one of the biggest Cinderella run, as well as one of the biggest what if run.
Ironically it was Harden who sent him out in 2018 and 2019
Those harden rockets ate the Jazz defense alive
Rubio literally guarding Hardens ass to play defense 😂
That defense is why harden added the floater to his game lol
That shit was lowkey cooking too for a couple of games. Wasn’t enough
Cavs were injured last year tho
Cavs been injured in playoffs every year the last 3 years I think
this is the healthiest they’ve ever been
Bubble jazz team was also pretty good and lost a 3-1 lead to Denver
those Jazz teams really tricked people into thinking they were actual contenders instead of regular season demons
They dont beat Toronto with Garland instead of Harden, let alone get a good solid chance at the ECF
Absolutely not. I don’t think garland wouldve be able to physically hold up against toronto.
Hardens just got that extra layer of beef on him
love that beef on harden
I heard this sung to the Popeyes commercial jingle in my head
My fat bearded king has that extra cushion for the pushin!
Strip club wing protein is different
underneath the fat suit
Gotta have some beef on the ready in case he’s gotta force a trade. Cleveland better sponsor his favorite strip club
uh oh the Harden glazing is happening – game 5 seems about right for glazing comments– be careful what u wish for in game 7s!
The alternative is Darius garland
An always injured / not fully fit Garland too.
And god fucking awful on the road.
14.3PPG and 5.7 APG on 39/30/90 splits.
He could be fully fit and I’d still rather have harden. Big, physical teams like Toronto and Detroit eat garland alive. Just go watch Cavs against NYK in 2023 or Cavs against Orlando in 2024 for evidence.
probably..BUT.
2023..he did struggle hard against knicks but it was ages ago and he was young and super inexperienced with playoff bball.
2024 one…to be fair to garland from Dec 2023 he fractured his jaw and needed surgery, lost heaps of weight and couldnt eat solids or meat for a while….was poor and fragile rest of season after that
2025 - who knows. he finally looked good physicslly in regular season and looked stronger again compared to 24…Playoffs 1st game against Miami good, and then his fucking toe fucked him for good for Pacer series.
there is 1 constant….cavs could NOT rely on garland come playoffs
Yeah I agree with you.
It was constant in the regular season too though honestly. As soon as defenses tightened and started being physical, he didn’t know what to do. He also didn’t get a great whistle and didn’t shoot as much from 3 as he should’ve, cause his shot from deep is money. He loved to burrow down the lane and beneath the rim with no plan and get stuck all the time too for some reason. He is very talented, but I just wasn’t a fan. Not built for playoff ball.
Garland didnt lose as much weight as he claimed. Literally scientifically impossible
He’s given the team more than enough - Mitchell needs to close.
Obviously Harden should still play well, but Mitchell as a first option has been very middling throughout most of the playoffs and has not been carrying his weight.
I dont know why yall blame him for that game 7. He was off the court when the Kawhi only lineup lost the game for you all.
He’s probably one of those dipshits who watched the box score and assumed Harden refused to shoot on purpose
Didnt we win our last game 7?
I mean I was pretty happy with him in the last G7
Fingers crossed Please get Spida to the ECF
Seems like it’s everyone’s turn to get to the conference finals besides poor Embiid lmao
Lowkey Embiid has given up. Bro was happy to make the second round
He exorcised the Boston demon and forgot there was one left
Thank you my bearded Jesus
Is there anything notably different from his other runs?
Because Mitchell himself has actually been pretty bad for this run, all things considered.
Harden more dependable than garland. He saved the Cavs this game and last game first half when Mitchell was playing bad
They also didn’t have any gritty guys like Strus and Schroder
and game 3
Playing with one of the best to ever do it? Maybe? Lmao
Harden
This is true in more ways than one because Harden ended his playoff runs during his Jazz years.
He’s been fine compared to his usual playoff averages, but overall he’s just been a bit luckier. 9th time might be the charm.
There were some pretty epic chokes in some of his other runs such as the blown 3-1 lead, the blown 20+ point lead against the Kawhi-less Clippers, and the Haliban but I guess that’s not only him to blame
This is our first healthy playoff run and his teammates are rising to the occasion when he hasnt been solid consistently.
Last year vs the pacers, maybe we don’t win with the way they were playing, but we absolutely dont flame out in 5 if we have the health that we have this year
Also james harden has lowkey been solid defensively lol.
Harden is an extremely high IQ player so him being a good defender isn’t surprising. His early houston days he just gave no effort at all. He only really started trying on defense after the arrival of cp3
luck plays a big part in any playoff run
Luck and poor competition
Wow I thought for sure he’d have made a conference finals by now
Players who have been All-NBA in the last 10 seasons who have never made a conference finals
Bradley Beal (14 seasons)
Andre Drummond (14 seasons)
Joel Embiid (10 seasons)
Domantas Sabonis (10 seasons)
Donovan Mitchell (9 seasons)
Ben Simmons (7 seasons)
Ja Morant (7 seasons)
Evan Mobley (5 seasons)
Cade Cunningham (5 seasons)
John Wall (retired)
Please don’t jinx it.
He better be ready to get mauled by the Knicks next round. 😂
Fair enough but that’s what everyone said about Detroit and now it’s at least going to 7
I don’t think you expectations for Detroit were that high after getting out of the first round by the skin of their teeth as a one seed. The series is going how most people expected maybe people jumped conclusions in the first couple of games but that always happens like when Detroit dismantled the magic in game one
Completely different series.
Well isn’t that exactly why no one should be jumping to conclusions? To be fair this series isn’t over yet either
I disagree with first commenter anyway. I thought Cleveland could potentially beat Detroit before playoffs started
The only way either of our 3 teams is beating okc is if we combine forces
Cade Brunson OG KAT Mobley
With Harden Mitchell Hart Bridges Allen off the bench
East in 4
Bruh, hes struggling out there.
Say thank you to Harden for the heavy lifting.
brother, Mitchell just had 43 in the last game