WASHINGTON — Donovan Mitchell couldn’t fully process his emotions late Friday night.
On one hand, he had just put the finishing touches on another masterpiece — one of his best regular season games ever, which rescued the teetering Cavs from hitting rock bottom.
On the other hand, in what some in the locker room characterized as a must-win game, on the heels of a contemplative week that featured a potentially transformative film session where Atkinson scolded the team for a lack of consistent effort, intensity and focus through the first 25 games, it took that to beat a three-win Wizards team missing four of their top eight scorers — Alex Sarr, Khris Middleton, Bilal Coulibaly and Corey Kispert.
“Can’t really lose this game coming out of the break,” Mitchell said pointedly afterward. “There’s positivity in responding. We put ourselves in a position where after the loss against Golden State and playing against a team that is 3 and whatever and we are down 15, you can kind of tuck your tail and kind of give in. But we found a way as a group, as a collective. That’s a positive. That comes from the five days off and being able to talk to each other honestly.
“But that can’t happen. This can’t happen. We can’t be in that position. We have had this conversation. We have to figure it out. I don’t have an answer for you. We are going to have to keep chipping. But I’m proud of the response.”
The Cavs, favored by 14.5 ahead of tipoff, trailed for nearly 30 minutes, by a game-high 17 points late in the third quarter. They were down 15 going into the fourth.
Despite the extraordinary late-game rally, outscoring the rebuilding Wizards 45-26 over the final 12 minutes and escaping with a 130-126 win, Cleveland had little reason to celebrate. Little reason to leave D.C. beaming with pride. Little reason to believe Tuesday’s film session had the desired impact. Little reason to think the many problems have been solved.
Just another substandard — and troubling — performance disguised as a victory.
“It’s the same things from before the break,” Mitchell explained. “That’s the unfortunate part. That’s frustrating. As a team, you’re going to have to find a way to get out of the mud. We’re stuck in mud right now.”
Cleveland’s solution was Mitchell’s individual excellence.
Mitchell erupted for 48 points — his second most ever in a regular season game. Twenty-four came in a scintillating fourth quarter — the highest-scoring fourth quarter by any NBA player this season and the second best by any Cavalier in the fourth quarter since 1997-98. Teammate Darius Garland tallied 27 points in a fourth-quarter loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in November 2023.
This Mitchell outburst came in a win. Barely.
“We found Donovan Mitchell or Donovan Mitchell found us; however you want [to put it],” Atkinson said after the game when asked about the turnaround. “It was one of the best performances I’ve seen.”
Mitchell made eight of the team’s 15 total triples. He accounted for more than half of the team’s points in the second half and fourth quarter.
In the locker room following the game, Mitchell made sure to uplift his teammates.
He talked about Evan Mobley fighting on the boards (13 rebounds). He praised Lonzo Ball for his defensive activity, especially in the fourth quarter against Washington veteran CJ McCollum. He credited Darius Garland for remaining in attack mode despite missing his first six shots and every 3-pointer he took while finishing a pedestrian 6 of 17 from the field and 0 of 11 from deep. He pointed out Craig Porter Jr.’s five rebounds and two steals in 11 impactful minutes.
That’s how Mitchell is wired. It’s part of his leadership style. He defaults to the team concept. He even reiterated that this turbulent start is more beneficial than a year ago when the Cavaliers ripped off 15 consecutive victories.
“We have to come out and understand this is what it’s going to be,” Mitchell said. “We have to continue to go hard every single night. Can’t look around the league and compare. We have to be the best we can be.”
The Cavs haven’t been.
At 15-11 and seventh place in the Eastern Conference, no one is happy about where they are. It was the impetus behind Atkinson calling out the team earlier this week — a harsh film session and accountability test that started with Cleveland’s premier players.
The focus that day was defense.
Effort. Communication. Awareness. Activity. Engagement. Attention to detail.
Three days later it was another wretched showing on the defensive end. The Wizards finished with a 120.0 offensive rating — their third best all season. There were repeated breakdowns at the point of attack, sloppy closeouts and late rotations.
“My defensive film session did not work too well with the way we played defense tonight,” Atkinson quipped. “We have to play better defense if we are going to do something this year.”
Friday night was supposed to be an opportunity to put words into action. It was supposed to be a surefire confidence-building triumph. A chance to back up their big talk. The opener to a favorable six-game stretch — all matchups against lesser opponents with a record below .500 — that would allow Cleveland to change the tenor around the team.
So much for that.
