{"id":1930936,"date":"2026-05-12T10:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1930936"},"modified":"2026-05-12T10:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T07:30:08","slug":"donovan-mitchell-lebron-james-and-the-ties-that-bind-in-cavs-quest-for-postseason-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1930936","title":{"rendered":"Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James and the ties that bind in Cavs\u2019 quest for postseason glory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

CLEVELAND \u2014\u00a0Maybe it had to be this way. The Cavaliers have been chasing LeBron James\u2019 ghost since he departed Cleveland a second time, so maybe it\u2019s only right they finally get to go first for once.<\/p>\n

The Cavs and the Los Angeles Lakers have been on the same track, playing on the same nights, throughout the conference semifinals. The series between the Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons has been the lead-in to the Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder series throughout the NBA\u2019s second round.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Cavs have enjoyed a much better go of it than the Lakers, who were swept Tuesday<\/a> in what was perhaps the final game of James\u2019 brilliant career. The Cavs evened their series with the Pistons thanks to Donovan Mitchell\u2019s historic second half in a 112-103 Game 4 victory<\/a> that wasn\u2019t really that close. Mitchell, James Harden and the Cavaliers are two wins from the Eastern Conference finals, which didn\u2019t seem all that likely after two fairly clumsy losses on the road to start this series.<\/p>\n

\n

Cleveland will eventually have to win a game in Detroit to advance, but even tying this series 2-2 is noteworthy. This is the closest the Cavs have come to reaching a conference finals without James on the roster since 1992. They made it to this round in each of the last two seasons and were down 3-1 in both instances. Both years, the Cavs\u2019 season ended in five games.<\/p>\n

Mitchell\u2019s incredible second half on Tuesday assured this series will go at least six games. He has admirably filled the leadership void within this organization following James\u2019 departure, but hasn\u2019t been able to match James\u2019 postseason success. His 39-point eruption in the second half is something that not even James has accomplished. It tied a mark set by the Golden State Warriors\u2019 Eric \u201cSleepy\u201d Floyd in 1987 for the most points in a half of a postseason game.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cIncredible performance,\u201d Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. \u201cWhat a shift, right? Really struggled in the first half. Big-time second-half performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

The Cavs have needed the best version of Mitchell during these two home games to fight back in this series, and he has delivered. He shot 1 of 8 in the first half on Tuesday and seemed to struggle getting past defenders. Atkinson implored his team to start playing faster in the second half, and it loosened Detroit\u2019s smothering defense while creating more driving lanes for Mitchell, who was the key reason why the Cavs scored the first 22 points of the third quarter to take control.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Detroit\u2019s physical, half-court defense has caused problems for the Cavs (particularly Mitchell and Harden) at various points in this series. The solution was to play faster and create easy looks in transition before the Pistons could set their schemes. The result was Mitchell making more trips to the free-throw line (15) than the entire Pistons roster (12).<\/p>\n

Both Atkinson and Mitchell were vocal early in this series about the disparity in free-throw shooting. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes it had an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since we came to Cleveland,\u201d Bickerstaff said, \u201cthe whistle has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bickerstaff will likely be fined for his comments, and he likely won\u2019t care. He has never been shy about going after officials, dating back to his days as Cleveland\u2019s coach, and it will be interesting to see if the whistle shifts back Detroit\u2019s way as the series moves there Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

As for the Cavs, this is what they envisioned by pairing Mitchell and Harden. It hasn\u2019t always been pretty, but on nights when Harden\u2019s handle is tight and Mitchell is getting to the basket, the Cavs are the better team in this series. The duo combined for 67 points, 11 assists and only three turnovers Monday, and the Pistons simply can\u2019t match the Cavs\u2019 scoring punch, particularly when Cade Cunningham is struggling as he has in this series. For all the matchup problems Cunningham can cause opponents, the Cavs seem to have the right combination of defenders to make life difficult on him.<\/p>\n

As the league narrows its focus on turnovers and offensive rebounds as ways to create extra possessions, the Pistons have dominated the Cavs in both categories for most of the series. That\u2019s why winning the turnover battle and essentially playing the Pistons to a draw on the offensive glass in Game 4 was so crucial.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Now it\u2019s time for the Cavs to win on the road, something they\u2019ve been unable to do throughout this postseason. Mitchell\u2019s home numbers over the last few years are markedly better in the playoffs than on the road, and Harden looked like a different player in these two games at home compared to the fumbling, aging star who couldn\u2019t stop turning the ball over in Detroit.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As for James, his season ended a few hours after the Cavs\u2019 latest victory. He missed a contested floater in the lane, a shot he\u2019s made hundreds of times, during the game\u2019s final minute that would\u2019ve given the Lakers the lead. What comes next for him remains to be seen. He was noncommittal on his future<\/a> after the loss.<\/p>\n

Behind Mitchell, Harden and Evan Mobley\u2019s phenomenal defensive effort, the Cavs are very much alive in this series. Still chasing their ghosts, still seeking redemption for past failures.<\/p>\n

Mitchell isn\u2019t James, and neither is Harden. But together, they\u2019re trying to get this franchise to places rarely seen over the last 30 years without him. Two more to go.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014\u00a0Maybe it had to be this way. The Cavaliers have been chasing LeBron James\u2019 ghost since he departed Cleveland a second time, so maybe it\u2019s only right they finally get to go first for once. The Cavs and the Los Angeles Lakers have been on the same track, playing on the same nights, throughout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1930936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1930936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1930936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1930936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1930936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}