Donovan Mitchell Doesn't Deserve All The Blame For Cavaliers First Round Exit

Donovan Mitchell was hard on himself following the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the New York Knicks in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

Donovan Mitchell made it very clear after the Cleveland Cavaliers were officially eliminated from the NBA Playoffs that the loss was on him and he let his teammates, the fans, and the hardworking city down.

Mitchell was very hard on himself after Cleveland's Game 5 loss to the New York Knicks and was visibly frustrated with his performance throughout the series. 

The #Cavs star is taking the series loss hard. pic.twitter.com/xBlvQS8cZA

— Cleveland Cavaliers On SI (@CLECavsOnSI) April 27, 2023

Obviously, Mitchell needed to play better. He scored just 11 points in Game 4 and what felt like an empty 28 in Game 5. The shots that he made all season long just weren't dropping.

However, the entire reason the Cavs lost does not and should not fall entirely on Mitchell's shoulders. The Cavs win and lose as a team and the team as a whole did not live up to the expectations that were put on them.

The Knicks outrebounded and outworked the Cavs in the paint all series long. Evan Mobley's aggressiveness was put to the test and Mitchell Robinson made Jarrett Allen appear small in the paint at times. 

Darius Garland also had a very streaky series. He went from accomplishing a feat that only LeBron James and Kyrie Irving have done in the last 25 years, to disappearing on offense the next game.

It's a disappointing loss for the team and their fans, but you have to imagine that the locker room is taking note of everything that is being said about them and will use it as motivation for next season!

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