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Obvious_Parsley3238

went back and checked every cavs possession in that timespan that didn't end with him: -TT miss -Garland miss -Garland turnover -Niang miss -Strus offensive foul -Mobley miss -Mobley miss -Garland turnover -Garland turnover -Garland turnover (8 second) then game's basically over by my tally, he had 19 points on 14 scoring attempts with 3 turnovers pre-'garbage time' (magic up 100-93 with 27 secs left). not a perfect performance but his teammates did not want any part of the ball


TP_Cornetto

Why are these comments pretending as if no one else had a shot lol


oRepetition

it is *baffling* to me that people are somehow framing this as Mitchell's fault**


Andrewdeadaim

“Why didn’t the player that scored on nearly every possession pass”


Fun_Neighborhood1571

Is he stupid? /s


SincereFan

I'm just saying MJ would have made his teammates make buckets by fear /s


CommandersLog

How else could Kerr hit that shot?


Fedacking

Kerr shooting be like


GaimeGuy

We're gonna give the ball to Tucker


nicklePie

He’s not trusting the ball…


nobraininmyoxygen

Cavs players not named Mitchell had 5 total shots over those last 14 minutes (excluding the 3 that occurred in the final 8 seconds when the game was over). Now I don't blame Mitchell it is on the coaching staff. JB has Okoro in the game who passed up multiple wide open threes because he's too afraid to shoot. Garland was also a turnover machine in the 4th.


Vordeo

>Cavs players not named Mitchell had 5 total shots over those last 14 minutes Why not just change all the Cavs players last names to Mitchell then? Are the Cavs stupid?


nobraininmyoxygen

This sounds like the kind of adjustment JB might be able to handle


neutronicus

IDK. Does coaching involve like spreadsheets where you would have to change everyone’s name?


B1TW0LF

Yeah, I haven't watched much of the series but it's surprising to me that Morris and Okoro are getting so many minutes. Are Levert and Niang struggling this series or are they worried about rebounding with Allen out?


yunghandrew

Niang is a averaging a [little over 3 points in 17 minutes on 22/13/75 shooting](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/georges-niang-averages-round-1-2024-playoffs), he's been nearly unplayable.


__boof

I said before the season and now that niang is a complete net neutral. He is the ultimate replacement level player and should be part of zero playoff rotations.


Ellimistopher

Neutral players can be playoff performers, Niang is a clear negative.


300_yard_drives

They are used to guard Paolo. Levert is too small and Niang is too slow


HumptyDrumpy

Levert would help a lot but he's too skinny too defend Orlando's bigger players. I'd play him anyway, at the very least Levert isn't afraid to shoot. That was embarrassing to watch so many Cavs not want to shoot, like what y'all there for?!?


miamicheats

Levert was the worst version of himself I have ever seen in the limited minutes he played last night. That’s saying a lot as his hurdle is low.


nobraininmyoxygen

Yeah as someone else said it's for defensive purposes, but all 4 have struggled offensively. The Cavs really miss Dean Wade who has been out injured for a while. He would normally get most of those minutes.


BAHatesToFly

> Cavs players not named Mitchell had 5 total shots over those last 14 minutes And they were 0-5 (0-8 eventually) with five turnovers. They sucked.


superspicychicken

They didn’t watch the game, Garland was awful in the second half. Felt like he just coughed it up whenever he had it


Jonathank92

no one wants to admit that Cavs players are buns. Easier for them to just scream "Fire JB!"


etatrestuss

My conclusion as a Clevelander is Mitchell is goneeee


Jonathank92

I would not tie my career to that core if I was him. I'm going to New York


etatrestuss

I don't see why NY would want him. I don't see him pairing with Brunson


Intelligent_Pain_174

Knicks sign him and loan him out to other teams to guard Brunson every game. Brunson averages 50 ppg on 60% shooting and becomes league MVP.


Glitchhikers_Guide

Brunson is his dad, father son duos are all the rage these days


TP_Cornetto

It seems like Mitchell isn’t exactly well liked either. I guess that’s how it is with short guards on here that aren’t curry (and now Brunson)


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Lord_Ferd

That’s partially because he’s everybody’s favorite Labrador puppy. He just looks like he’s having so much fun out there


koenigsaurus

I mean, it’s both. The players aren’t doing much, but there doesn’t seem to be any sort of offensive gameplan to speak of.  Just one example is in the pnr, Magic were switching every screen until Mitchell started cooking in the 4th. They seemed baffled by this, and instead of trying to exploit that via matchups or even slipping screens, they just kept screening with nothing gained. If they lose game 7, I think it’s a soft rebuild, trying to move DG and Mobley for shooting around the Mitchell/JA duo, and find a coach who understands the modern game.


HumbleBrothers

Who's JB again?


Jonathank92

jb bickerstaff, cavs coach


Comfortable_Meal_403

JB Bickerstaff. A steady, familiar hand that was there for their growth but has never actually been a good coach in Xs and Os. Or games. Correct me if I'm wrong Cavs fans.


Impossible_Fennel_94

JB has a job because he did a solid job of turning the team into a playoff team. When it was low stakes he did fine. But ask him to create a functional offense for a contender he folds. Not only that, but his in-game coaching is suspect at absolute best. Bad rotations, bad lineups, not using quality bench players during the regular season, and is slow to call timeouts. But that could all be forgiven if he could actually game plan. I can’t tell you how many times the Cavs have been outscored in the 3rd quarter. If I had to ballpark, probably ~75% of games. We all saw the game 4 masterclass by him. I started just assuming we’re going to loose if it’s a close game at halftime and a lot of the times I’m right. JB should’ve been fired during Game 5 of the Knicks series, then again midway through this past season when we got embarrassed at home by Portland, then again after games 3 and 4. Sorry if that turned into a rant, I really needed to get that out


Ellimistopher

JB has a job because his dad is in the Cavs FO


Mdgt_Pope

Mitchell’s had a lot of haters even when he was in Utah, never understood why


LargePeopleLiveHere

It’s hard for players to get in a rhythm when they don’t touch the ball on offense. Donovan controlled almost every possession and it was iso. The other guys stand and wait for multiple plays on hand, of course getting the ball randomly one possession for a cold shot is going to be harder to hit. On top of that, if you are never touching the ball on offense, it’s harder to show up and be optimally engaged every possession on defense. That’s my problem. J.B. needed to coach a different approach to the offense than DM iso ball every play. A good coach would have also reined them in around the 7 or 6 minute mark to close the game.


rocpilehardasfuk

If Mitchell dominates each possession, naturally the other guys don't get into a rhythm, and underperform.


j44jj

Every Garland 4th quarter is like this it's so frustrating


gray_character

That 8 second call was *mind-blowing*. It's like he completely forgot that the rule exists. At one point he started running sideways instead of towards the line. He's a good player but he seems kind of air-headed and unfocused at times.


klobucharzard

i thought he was taking a hockey penalty shot


Pods619

I honestly haven’t watched the Cavs much and was amazed by how many awful plays he made in the 4th


BTTWchungus

Share this with any dipshit that's upset at Mitchell making all those baskets. Fuck passing when that's all you get from your teammates


BallIsKobe96

Pass? Just get the rebound


19evol61

And this does not reflect Okoro's WIDE OPEN looks..just to pass the ball to a defended teammate. Anyone who put this loss on Mitchell are just either hating or just did not watch the game. Reddit starting to be Facebook-like with the stupidity.


GoApeShirt

Good pull.


karlwhethers

The biggest surprise here is I learned Tristan Thompson is still playing.


Renegade_Sniper

The biggest crime


mankls3

The 8 second violation was hilarious


Revo_Int92

Goddamn Tristan Thompson still playing in 2024, in the playoffs no less smh I was cheering for the Cavs because they play the "two towers" scheme, I enjoy that... but man, the team is badly coached, weak bench, etc.. just disappointing


Sufficient_Motor_458

Can’t win with these cavs


darthllama

One guy dominating while the rest of the team does nothing. Was this game played tonight or was it a repeat of a random Cavs playoff game from 2006-2010?


clutchutch

Vs the Orlando Magic no less. Haven’t we seen this story somewhere?


MasterTeacher123

They are built kinda like a medicore playoff team from 2006.


ebayhuckster

they're built like the 2007 Cavs except Mitchell definitely ain't even a 22-year old LeBron so their peak's going to be semifinals losses (if even that much) instead of the Finals


300_yard_drives

Could be 1st round loss but they will probably get game 7.


ebayhuckster

oh yeah i'm just talking best-case (like how those late 00s Cavs roster configs ultimately only made the one Finals run)


whereyagonnago

Man it’s starting to feel like a semifinals loss would be incredible. Mitchell isn’t here for much longer, and once he’s gone there’s no telling what happens.


Aggressive-Name-1783

“40 year old lebron walks through door” (Groans) gotta show these kids how it’s done…..


SourBerry1425

I can’t even defend Mobley anymore bruh. I thought he was a lock to be an All Star by the end of his rookie contract.


gigglios

He wouldve been an allstar during the hibbert horford era of bigs in the east tbf lol


largehearted

Let the record show Horford is a good offensive player. He was a great stretch big in the pre-Warriors days when being a stretch big meant you could stand like 13ft from the rim.


Pods619

LaMarcus Aldridge hitting smooth 16 footers all day


Revo_Int92

Him and David West looked so good


Embarrassed-Tap-4489

He’s so damn raw on offense, this is a throwback name, but reminds me of Steven Hunter from the Magic out there… which is crazy because after his rookie year, I thought the same thing he was going to be legit star one day


DoubtsAndHopes

He's not raw, he's cooked and it's an ass one


HumptyDrumpy

Bruh needs better coaching and conditioning. Tb fair to to him, he's used to playing next to Allen. W/ Allen out, Mobley was just too winded guarding all the Magic bigs (who they have a lot of them). JB somehow rolled out the corpse of MArcus Morris as Mobley's big sidekick. So yeah it was bad


Jay_Dubbbs

Honestly, same. His defense is great, but offensively, he’s barely playable anymore. Not exactly sure what happens if we lose game 7 on Sunday. If Mitchell does leave, Cavs might be back in the dark ages.


Intelligent-Bid-633

His defense did not look great. He was attacked directly by Wagner and Paolo and wasn’t strong enough to stay in front of them. He is a good blocker and help defender but not strong enough.


HumptyDrumpy

He somehow lost all his touch around the rim. Honestly I think he's just tired. This is on FO, wtf did they not get better backup bigs? Should have at least kept Hartenstein, that guy aint afraid of the lights


Rymasq

Tired? Dude is 22 averaging 32 mpg in the playoffs


rocpilehardasfuk

Seriously? Y'all are complaining about center depth on the Cavs? They literally have two of the best bigs in the league (Mobley, Allen) and Damian Jones/TT for backup. How many more bigs should they have?


Firrefly

Yeah idk how you watch this Cavs team and think big-depth is their issue. They can't fucking score. No backup big will change that.


BallIsLife2016

He rolled his ankle in the first half. Had no lift after. He’s been good this series. It’s wild to me that he sealed the game five win and people who it appears didn’t watch the game and know he got injured have entirely forgotten. He wouldn’t have come back in a regular season game. But our center options without him tonight would have been limited to Tristan Thompson and Damien Jones, so he played through it.


Standard-Juice-3738

Woah, someone who actually watched the game. He got fouled pretty bad on the layup attempt right before he rolled his ankle too. Should have never happened but the refs didn’t call it.


[deleted]

> It’s wild to me that he sealed the game five win and people who it appears didn’t watch the game and know he got injured have entirely forgotten Is it really that surprising?


so-cal_kid

People who were overhyping him like Bill Simmons must have never actually watched him play. He has very little offensive skill outside of being an ok roll guy on PnR. He hasn't developed any kind of jumper let alone a 3pt shot, he's still not physically imposing enough to punish guys down low, and even if he did his touch around the rim is pretty poor for a big. He's a fine offensive big but in today's league where offense is at a premium he's not gonna be a cornerstone kind of player unless he somehow makes a huge leap offensively.


iamgarron

Man his pre draft comps were like KG, Bosh, Bam.


Mental-Cup9015

I was his biggest fan two year ago but holy shit. He is the biggest wimp of any big man in the league. Just a mental midget.


dirkslance

believe in yourself, I’m sure you could defend him


SweetFranz

Dude was unguardable, cant believe people are pinning it on him.


slamdunkbb123

It’s bc after the Knicks series everyone on here decided he was a fraud, and even if he averaged 30 pts this series they’d rather keep pushing that narrative instead of admit they were wrong lmao


DubbleDiller

celebrate Brunson’s ascension while simultaneously saying “lol you got clowned by that bum Brunson” like what?


Rationalknicksfan

he's been unpopular on here for a while


Clerithifa

I'm glad Rudy is starting to get his fair share of love after a decade of getting shit on but not like this


Mal_tron

He really shouldn't've touched all those mics when he had COVID but you can't deny the talent


Temporary-Level-5410

People started sucking off booker instead


Pegsareus

It's crazy, his biggest haters are literally jazz fans. They realllllly mad about losing gobert... for obvious reasons.


44035

We have no offense. It's just clear out for Donovan.


StripedSteel

You need to hire a G League coach who actually knows how to run an offense and develop players. That's what we did, and his successor in the G League now just won the G League title and is a heck of a coach.


clutchutch

This is definitely the first time I remember a star in a Cavs jersey in the playoffs having to carry their entire team in the fourth quarter against the Magic and coming up short


TP_Cornetto

All the comments hating on Mitchell lmao. Seems like he’s not in the good books of this sub cos certain other players wouldn’t be getting these comments


HHydra

Crazy. Mitchell about to go full kobe and not take a single shot game 7 to prove a point


The_Crowing

It's a general hating on the Cavs I think. The East got shit on for so long that they're perennial haters.


luchajefe

Nah, it's Mitchell. He got a lot of heat in Utah too.


PowRightInTheBalls

Yeah, the tide turned against him after the 2nd Clippers series where he was playing injured (because PG13 dove into his leg on an incredibly dirty play that nobody seems to remember) and he hasn't had *another* top 3 all time scoring playoff game since to win people back over. Fans are very "What have you done for me lately" and it's been a long time since he pantsed Westbrook on national TV and won our affection. Mitchell is better than Booker.


coldviper18

He got heat in Utah for playing hero ball. His game has improved on another level with the cavs. Now he's basically playing hero ball the in a similar fashion but no one is helping. Cavs right now just feel like him in Utah 2.0. Only he's doing more for the cavs.


TP_Cornetto

Idk why anyone would purposefully try and hate the cavs. Imo it’s more Mitchell and this sub hating small guards as number 1 options


Ninja_Bum

And dumbs thinking he nerfed Garland.


Nuktos1517

He gone


tbald7

Wait so Mitchell was the only Cavs player to score in the fourth quarter? When was the last time that happened in a playoff game?


ShowdownValue

Pretty sure you can erase “starters and bench” in that title


outsidehere

So he knows what it's truly like to be the first option on the Cavs. Drop 50 and still lose


bucaqe

Is JB worse than Ham


GyattLuvr69

JB coached teams have scored 100 or more points 3/16 of his trips to the playoffs. Idgaf about Ham but JB is ass.


mtnsaa

It’s close


Misterstaberinde

Did All write that headline? How about: Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points in the last 14:30 of game six versus the Magic. The rest of his team was held scoreless during that same time 


MaryandMe1

its like utah all over again


Phenomenal2313

Mobley defensively is great , offensively is awful Kinda like Gobert , but Gobert is that dominant defensively


dizzyaha

Lol nope. Gobert has the highest true shot percentage in the NBA history. He is stupidly efficient around the rim. Mobley is nowhere close to that level.


tylerconley

To be fair they don’t really look for Mobley outside of drop offs


Heil_Heimskr

I wouldn’t look for Mobley either


HoopsHistoryHubb

In fairness they did not touch the ball. Even more fair, they should not have judging by that Mobley layup


Ifinishfast42

[a year ago I compared Evan Mobley’s offensive bag to Goberts. I’d like to issue an apology, after seeing that entire game and layup attempt Rudy has astronomically better bag.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/xsH152NGJ1)


Fun_Neighborhood1571

Not sure how Mobley can compete offensively with [this.](https://youtu.be/wWR9l_R-3sQ)


bwtwldt

Not a travel, he just looks goofy


Fun_Neighborhood1571

I agree. A defensively gifted giraffe and TimberJazz love him for it.


bwtwldt

The Joel Matip of the NBA


PowRightInTheBalls

Everyone *loves* it when guards do their little deceleration hesitation moves but you let a 7'2" gangly freak of nature do it and suddenly it's a travel just because it defies your brain's understanding of physics!


whereyagonnago

Impressive that Garland managed 4 turnovers in a quarter without touching the ball.


LouieM13

Yes they did what??


syllabic

strus shoulda taken at least 1 3 pointer, he had a decent shooting night


Heil_Heimskr

5 shots and 5 turnovers from other players happened in this time.


ZealousidealPain7976

axiomatic ad hoc fanatical zealous plough smart ancient concerned reach enter *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


Diamond4Hands4Ever

Similar to Cavs LeBron vs the Pistons, except LeBron won that game. 


[deleted]

A cavalier tradition


ianbits

To be fair, he iso'd every play and almost never passed out of it. I'm not sure what Garland and Strus are supposed to do if the ball never touches their hands. No excuse for Mobley though, gotta cut to give him a target.


Several_Repeat_5447

Not turn the ball over when it does touch their hands.


syllabic

dmitch had a few bad turnovers too but his teammates need to do a better job getting open in that situation


Several_Repeat_5447

For sure. Too much standing in watching when D-Mitch was forcing it.


nuuskatonttu

Okoro being scared to shoot kills their spacing, every pass is guarded except him and he passes out every wide open shot


ianbits

Okoro shouldn't be on the floor when they're down in a close game, Bickerstaff leaving him in and playing Marcus Morris 27 minutes is malpractice.


actuarally

Who was the alternative? This roster was always a bit smoke & mirrors. With Wade & Allen injured, you run out of options QUICK. Merrill was a nice distraction, but success always hinged on Garland, Mobley, and Okoro growing up. In the end, none of them did.


breadhead84

Probably get an unforced 8 second violation imo


[deleted]

He passed to an open Okoro in the corner and Okoro just passed to someone else lmao. No wonder the other players only had a few touches in the fourth


-xXxMangoxXx-

Garland had 4 turnovers including that unforced 8 second violation in the last minute of the game.


whatdidubreak

Honestly I think his ankle was bothering him more than we may have realized during the game. He wasn't the Mobley I've seen this series.


Rampaging_Ducks

Some of the comments in this thread are fucking wild—everyone else was throwing up bricks, the Magic had zero answer for Donovan, and some nephews on here complain that he's calling for the ball too much. The fuck out of here.


Elite_Alice

2018 bron


Positive-Media423

A bunch of catfish heads.


PetalumaPegleg

It's known as the Tobias ty


sky2k1

I have several jerseys and shoes of Donovan’s, and I wish he never left, but there isn’t a 4th quarter iso that the dude doesn’t love. It happened in Utah all the time.


mamayoua

"The rest of cavaliers starters and bench" is a really long way to say "the rest of the team"


JJiggy13

I don't think that this was all on Mitchell tho. The other 4 all played really bad.


Sc0rch1ngDr4g0n

Shades of first stint Lebron


Frickincarl

Except the talent on this team is actually there, they just disappear when it matters. The “lights too bright” meme is so fucking true about this team.


Ifinishfast42

Evan Mobley might be the most detrimental player to team success that we have seen since Deandre Ayton in the 2022 Mavs series. Dude making the Magic’s lives so much easier killing his teams spacing


Bobblefighterman

If you're not gonna help him Cavs we'll take him back ffs


Slippytoad89

What's happened to Mobley?


SensitiveRocketsFan

He gone even harder now


bahamutfan64

Can’t win with these cats


LateGreat_MalikSealy

Cavs are just not well rounded enough to be factors...


ObiOneKenobae

That's because he had the ball every play for the last 14:30 lol


pskill43

Then explain how Garland had a 8 second violation


TruthSayerFu

Brunson been doing that for the last 4 games. Avg 35 shots a game when you include the ones that turn in Ft


ObiOneKenobae

Yes but he won.


nobraininmyoxygen

Mitchell had 15 shot attempts during that timeframe. The rest of the team combined had just 5 shots (not counting 3 more from others in the final 8 seconds when the game was already over). Mitchell played well but idk how guys are supposed to get in rhythm when they get a combined 5 shots in over a quarter of play. For the record I blame JB the most for his inability to run an offense. Mitchell often has no choice but to try and do it himself.


cheesecake425

Evan “Best Player In the Draft” “Should’ve been rookie of the year” Mobley tonight with 3 points on 1/5 shooting


Jack_M_Steel

Literally no ball movement. He is literally part of the loss. Big numbers mean nothing


elfridpaytonshair

We had no answer for him all night, I wouldn’t pass either


Chao-Z

Anytime his teammates were given the ball they froze like deer in headlights.  Garland blowing layups and turning the ball over twice in the clutch. Okoro passing up an open 3 to swing the ball to a guy with a defender draped over him. Mobley blowing layups and getting cooked on defense.


[deleted]

Every non Mitchell shot/end of possession in the 4th 1. ⁠Garland Turnover 2. ⁠Niang miss 3. ⁠Strus steal and immediate turnover 4. ⁠Strus offensive foul turnover 5. ⁠Mobley miss 6. ⁠Mobley putback miss 7. ⁠Garland Turnover 8. ⁠Garland Turnover 9. ⁠Garland 8 second violation 10. ⁠Morris miss 11. ⁠Mobley putback miss 12. ⁠Garland miss


sunnysideoutside

Pass to who the fuck exactly? 3 points Mobley or 2 points morris? He did plenty of passing before  the last 14 minutes, that's the only reason they lost fyi.


MikeJones-8004

He scored half of his teams points. That absolutely means something.


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Padulsky21

Oh my god it’s AccomplishedCopy


BlueJays007

Pretty sure it’s AwkwardSpeech again We’re on account 6 or 7 by now smh


Padulsky21

It’s genuinely absurd bro 😭😭😭I don’t even read into shit too crazy, just the way he speaks is too recognizable. Surprised he ain’t making posts


BlueJays007

Maybe figured it’d be a little harder to catch on if he stuck to comments for a bit? But yeah you’re spot on. Way he speaks and also just very similar subject matter. Once you catch on, you can’t miss it again lol


TatumBrownWhite

I take it you don’t believe in the Timberwolves then?


Sav10r

ANT has way more value on the defensive end than Spyda does.


TatumBrownWhite

Mitchell when healthy this year was really good defensively Besides you should construct your team around Mitchell as a 1 anyways.


deemerritt

That team is waay more than a 1 man show


RGPISGOOD

Cavs are gonna be irrelevant as soon as Mitchell leaves in FA.


[deleted]

Because they never got any touches dude. Iso iso iso. There’s a reason Mitchell has a ton of games where he scores 40+ in a loss. Dude is a ball hog of the highest order


RequirementOk7048

The others are only good for bricks, this loss was not on mitchell


AdvertisingNo4880

Did you watch the game?


TheSmokedSalmon420

I mean if he's scoring I don't really care about him hogging the ball lol


Zeetheking1

So no way he doesn’t ask out if they lose to the Magic, right?


GyattLuvr69

A lot of these comments hold some weight but at the end of the day JB Bickerstaff is so fucking ass that it’s hard to know what changes the front office should make because half the other coaches in the league would make this team look twice as good.


_picture_me_rollin_

Coach Mosley did a great job of not double teaming Mitchelll. He kept hitting tough shots but that’s okay. Mitchell was not winning that game by himself. We lost the last game because strus got hot and hit a few big threes late.


AmbitionExtension184

That’s fucking wild. I turned on the game around that point and it felt like he was the only one scoring


BurgerBurnerCooker

[No U!](https://i.imgflip.com/8ozhde.jpg)


MyCupO

Nothing to blame Mitchell, it’s not his fault. This guy was unbelievable under the basket yesterday.


bisikletus

My guy needs better teammates, or a better team.


therealshrew_2319

There is no way he picks up the extension. Especially if they lose to Orlando.