After Donovan Mitchell jumped into stands vs. Knicks, Cavs aim to break fall from Game 1

CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell had been telling his younger Cavaliers teammates for months what the NBA playoffs require.

On Saturday night, he showed them.

Mitchell didn't just register a game-high 38 points and eight assists to go along with five rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot in 44 minutes.

The All-Star guard also demonstrated how to play with a sense of desperation the Cavs will need to bounce back from their 101-97 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.

“It's the playoffs. You've got to do what's necessary,” Mitchell said. “Every possession matters.”

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The example unfolded late in the first half after Mitchell missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

As Mitchell pursued the ball for a long rebound, he saved it from going out of bounds, but his momentum carried him to a broadcast table on the sideline with 1:36 left in the second quarter. Instead of crashing into the table, he stepped onto it. And rather than falling off the table, he leaped into the stands.

“That was pretty wild,” Cavs forward Cedi Osman said. “Him going into the stands trying to save the ball, it's amazing. It really shows how tough he is and how much he wants to win. It was a little bit of a dangerous position, but we’re just lucky he is good.”

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Osman said the Cavs held their breath during the sequence. Mitchell winced when he crash-landed and appeared to be in discomfort as he walked away from the scene. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff used a timeout with his top player attempting to scramble back to the court.

Asked if he suffered an injury during the play, Mitchell said, “I'm good. Just the scar I tried to shower with, that hurts, but I'm good.”

Mitchell's 20 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, seem to support his claim about his health.

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The Cavs are glad because their hopes of advancing past the Knicks hinge largely on Mitchell.

“Donovan’s tough,” Cavs small forward Isaac Okoro said. “He’ll be fine.

“That's what we need everybody to do. He dove for those loose balls, and we had one in the fourth quarter. He dove on the ground, and passed it to Cedi [for a layup with 2:45 left].”

The Cavs clearly need more against the Knicks than Donovan Mitchell's heroics

The Eastern Conference's fourth-seeded Cavs don't stand a chance of emerging from their opening-round series against the fifth-seeded Knicks unless Mitchell continues to perform at an elite level.

Yet they clearly need more, too.

The Knicks have established themselves as the deeper, tougher and more opportunistic team. They had advantages in bench points (37-14), rebounding (51-38, including 17-11 on the offensive end), second-chance points (23-12) and points off turnovers (26-10).

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The Knicks raved about All-Star power forward Julius Randle essentially icing the game with an offensive rebound with six seconds left. The crucial rebound led to two successful free throws by guard Quentin Grimes with 4.3 seconds remaining, and the Cavs were buried.

Mitchell's main messages to his teammates are “this isn't the end of the world” and “not to stress.”

Donovan Mitchell challenged himself and his Cavs teammates to play better in Game 2 vs. the Knicks

Mitchell pointed out forward Evan Mobley didn't have his typical touch around the rim and added point guard Darius Garland and sixth man Caris LeVert can play better than they did.

Mitchell became the second player in Cavs history to finish a playoff game with at least 38 points, eight assists and three steals. The other is LeBron James, who did it three times.

Still, Mitchell said he includes himself among the Cavs who need to improve from Game 1.

“It starts with myself,” he said. “I hold myself accountable in front of these guys. It's like, 'Look, like I'm not exempt from anything.'”

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In fact, the second-quarter save was actually Mitchell's way of attempting to atone for what he considered a poor shot.

“I was joking I appreciate the people that moved out the way,” he said. “I jumped at them intentionally, and they moved, but it's all love. I probably would do the same thing.

“I took a bad shot and just tried to make up for it. And that's the biggest thing — if I don't take that bad shot, I'm not in that position.”

But Mitchell found himself in a spot where he felt the need to hustle. Now he hopes his teammates will look back at the play and realize “this is what it takes” in the postseason. Mitchell has been to the playoffs in all six of his NBA seasons, the first five with the Utah Jazz, who traded him to the Cavs in September. He knows what's at stake.

“You can talk about it … but sometimes you just got to be about it in many different facets,” Mitchell said. “Whether it's diving on the floor getting a loose ball, diving in the crowd, just doing whatever's necessary, because there's no tomorrow. We're only promised at minimum three more games after this.

“I took a bad shot, and I had to make up for it. If we give up an offensive rebound, we got to make up for it and get a stop, no matter how deflating it may be, no matter what. If we turned the ball over, we better get back on defense.

“If we screw up, then what? There's no like, 'Oh, man. We messed up.' And I think we did a pretty solid job, but we can be better for sure. [I'm] just trying to set that tone.”

All eyes will be on the Cavs to see whether they follow Mitchell's lead in Game 2 Tuesday night in Cleveland.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Donovan Mitchell's leap shows Cavs what NBA playoffs require