Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Donovan Mitchell shouldered the blame for Friday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns following an uncharacteristic performance.
“Put this on me,” Mitchell said, according to CBS Sports’ James Herbert. “When your leader ain’t doing shit, this is what happens. Yeah, we have to guard better, rebound, shit like that. But if I’m not being who I need to be, then we’re not going to get to where we want to get to.”
Mitchell recorded a season-low seven points on 2-of-18 shooting punctuated by an 0-of-8 display from beyond the arc. The Eastern Conference-leading Cavs have hit a rough patch lately on the heels of a franchise-best 16-game winning streak and have dropped four consecutive contests, their worst stretch of the campaign.
“It’s been like this for the past four games, and we’ve lost four straight,” Mitchell added.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 42 points for the 34-37 Suns, who have now won three straight to vault the Dallas Mavericks for the fourth and final play-in spot.
“I have to be better, simple as that. You can point to all these different things, yeah: KD having 30-whatever, we gave him some – f— all that, it’s on me,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell missed the final matchup of Cleveland’s 16-game run due to groin soreness before returning for the current skid. In the four contests since his one-game absence, the 28-year-old has shot 29.5% from the field and 6-of-37 from deep, well below his season averages.
“I have to be better for the group. I’ve been good for the group all year, and this is on me,” Mitchell said.
“I’m a sicko for this shit, man,” Mitchell added. “This tests what you really are mentally, just continuing to push. And I have no doubt, I haven’t lost confidence in my abilities. It’s going to come, it’s going to happen. But until I continue to be who I’ve been, this is what happens.”
Evan Mobley chipped in with 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs, and according to the fourth-year defensive whiz, Mitchell isn’t the only one who deserves blame for their struggles.
“I feel like we all started slow. We weren’t getting rebounds, we weren’t necessarily getting stops. Some shots weren’t falling for (Mitchell) and some other people as well, but we can’t just put everything on him,” Mobley said.
Mitchell and Co. will look to bounce back when they visit the lowly Utah Jazz on Sunday. The six-time All-Star said he’s happy to take the criticism for the Cavs if the losing streak continues.
“There’s really nowhere else to look, to be honest with you,” Mitchell said. “So I’ll be better. I’ll figure it the f— out for everybody.”
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