The Cavaliers’ elimination at the hands of the Pacers, as unexpected as it was overwhelming (1-4) after finishing the regular season as Western Conference leaders (64-18) was a blow for the city of Cleveland and for its squad, desolate after squandering a 19-point lead and losing the third game in a row in front of their home fans (the first time in history that this has happened to them in the playoffs) and becoming the fourth NBA team to win at least 64 games in the regular season and not make it past the second round.
Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs star who was the best in the loss (35+9), appeared in the press room with a haggard look on his face. He had his phone in his hands, but he did not look at it as he bit his lips with his eyes in the distance.
“I didn’t want to believe it, I don’t want to believe it and I still don’t want to believe it,” he said. His words reflected the drama that was experienced in his locker room in a season in which expectations were so high, and rightly so.
I didn’t want to believe it, I don’t want to believe it, and I still don’t want to believe it
“I love playing on this fucking court,” Mitchell said in a tone of voice that mixed anger with frustration. “That energy, that crowd. We’ve lost three home games and we’ve let the city down. This place is special. This place is really special and we didn’t make it,” he lamented. “We’ve had a lot of positives,” Mitchell said of his team. “But we didn’t take advantage of them. Now we have to use this motivation. Everybody’s going to write us off.”
Injuries are no excuse
Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson did not want to use his team’s injuries at the end of the season as an excuse: “You just wish you were a complete team, but I don’t think the injuries we’ve suffered are an excuse. I don’t want to say ‘oh, that’s the reason, that’s not the reason’. They have been a better team.”
Atkinson admitted that his team did not perform at the most important moment: “I feel like we improved from a team standpoint, and a lot of guys stepped up, but the truth is we didn’t reach the level we wanted. So I’m not happy about that. I honestly expected more, especially after the first round series against Miami.”
The coach urges his players
And he defended his players to the hilt: “I’m going to defend everyone in that dressing room. We have a window with this group, I trust everyone here, we believe in each other. That’s the bad thing, we’re a good team. And for five games… we didn’t show what we’re capable of. And in the end, that’s what we’re judged on.”
We have let the city down and we have let each other down, but we will come back
And he ended his appearance on a more racial tone, almost imploring his team not to give up and fight to stay the course they had throughout the season: “So get in the gym, in the weight room, in nutrition, or whatever, and come back for it,” he said. “Because we’re going to get screwed, man. We’ve let the city down and we’ve let each other down, but we’ll be back.”
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