The Cleveland Cavaliers missed their first opportunity to close out the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, and Donovan Mitchell did not hide the team’s disappointment after a 115-94 loss at Rocket Arena forced a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Mitchell pointed directly to Detroit’s physicality and energy as the deciding factors after the Cavaliers were outworked for long stretches of the game.
“They were just hungry from the jump,” Mitchell said when asked why Cleveland lost the “force battle.” “At the end of the day, we didn’t match it. So we got an opportunity, we didn’t do it, so now we got to go on the road and get a win.”
The Cavaliers never established control despite entering the night with a 3-2 series lead. Detroit dominated the glass, converted 13 offensive rebounds into 20 points and turned Cleveland’s 20 turnovers into 28 points.
Mitchell said the lack of intensity was noticeable from the opening minutes.
“Nope. No, not at all,” Mitchell said when asked if Cleveland matched the urgency needed to clinch a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The six-time All-Star expanded on that frustration afterward.
“We didn’t start off the game well,” Mitchell said. “Still had the lead and then just throughout the course of the game we never really kicked it to that second level or even second level which is the level we need.”
Detroit seized momentum early in the third quarter with a 12-2 run after leading 54-41 at halftime. Mitchell said Cleveland failed to respond physically once the Pistons increased the pressure.
“When we get hit in the mouth, we didn’t punch back,” Mitchell said. “And we have throughout the course of this playoffs. And tonight, we didn’t do that.”
Mitchell finished with 18 points on 6-for-20 shooting while being defended for much of the night by Ausar Thompson and Detroit’s aggressive perimeter rotations. Still, he dismissed any suggestion that fatigue played a role.
“No, I’m good,” Mitchell said.
Instead, the Cavaliers guard focused on execution and composure heading into Sunday’s winner-take-all matchup in Detroit.
“Win the recovery battle,” Mitchell said about the next 48 hours. “And understand it’s going to be a dog fight coming up. Simple as that.”
Mitchell also emphasized that Cleveland cannot carry the frustration of Game 6 into the deciding game.
“Everything you want is on the other side of hard,” Mitchell said. “Nothing good comes easy.”
“We could sit here and dwell on this and carry that into Sunday. What’s that going to do for us? Right? So understand we have an opportunity, we missed it, now we have another opportunity on Sunday.”
James Harden, who led Cleveland with 23 points, echoed Mitchell’s message about simplicity and focus heading into Game 7.
“Just got to go play one game on the road,” Harden said. “You got to get off to a really good start and you got to maintain and sustain it for the entire game.”
Harden also said Cleveland’s defensive identity disappeared too often in Game 6.
“Our defense has to be the priority,” Harden said. “We feed off our defense. Our energy comes from our defense, and we didn’t do that well enough like they did.”
The series now shifts back to Detroit, where the top-seeded Pistons will try to complete another comeback after already rallying from a 3-1 deficit against Orlando in the first round.
For Cleveland, the path is now clear after a difficult home loss.
“We all we got,” Mitchell said. “We’re on the road and go from there.”
