What the Cavaliers need to save their turbulent se...

IN THE VISITORS locker room in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers had sealed their Game 7 victory over the Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals, coach Kenny Atkinson paused and pointed to a single player across the locker room. "We turn to you," Atkinson said to the team's superstar and most consistent player, Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell had responded after one of his most disappointing games of the postseason -- a 6-for-20 shooting, 18-point dud in Game 6 -- with one of his most complete games: 26 points on 10-for-22 shooting and his playoff-high eight assists to win Game 7 and eliminate the top-seeded Pistons. Atkinson had devised a postgame plan prior to the game with Cleveland's season hanging in the balance. He wanted to highlight Mitchell, regardless of whether the Cavs advanced beyond the second round or their season ended that night. The reason was simple: It was Mitchell who had guided the Cavs throughout a turbulent season, from preseason favorites, to barely above .500 in December, to a franchise-altering trade, to a pair of seven-game series through the first two rounds. In the locker room, Atkinson continued his tribute. "Not just your on court, but your leadership," he said. "Your positivity when things were really not going great. Whether we won or lost tonight, we never celebrate you in these things -- you don't want that, you don't want the praise -- but tonight you deserve the praise." Mitchell has made the postseason in each of his first nine seasons. But each of his first three years in Cleveland has ended in disappointment. An embarrassing first-round exit to the Knicks in 2023, losing two straight years in the conference semifinals, including last season as the No.1 seed in the conference. In this, his ninth season, the six-time All-Star has led his team to the conference finals for the first time. "I know I leaned on him," Atkinson said before the start of Game 2 in New York. "That's the first place to go when you're struggling, to your leader. We had a lot of conversations, just talking through things, how we can get this thing back on track. And again, he never kind of swayed towards the negative." After Atkinson finished, he turned the locker room over to Mitchell. "Enjoy it," Mitchell told the team. "But we didn't just come here to do this." Still, the start of the conference finals has fit the theme of the Cavaliers' rocky 2025-26. They blew a 22-point lead in Game 1, an epic collapse in NBA playoff lore. In Game 2, they lost by 16 in a game that was rarely competitive. "I'm not sitting here like, oh man, scrambling and trying to figure things out," Mitchell said after the Cavaliers fell to 0-2. "At the end of the day, we make some shots, we'll be in good shape. ... We'll make our adjustments. We'll be at home and protect home court." Now, as the series shifts to Cleveland on Saturday for Game 3, the Cavaliers are confronting a similar reality: They'll need to lean on Mitchell once again to save their season. The good news, for them, is that he has already done it before, some six months ago. IN WHAT WOULD ultimately prove to be a preview of their Game 1 loss to the Knicks, the Cavs also blew a double-digit lead on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden. Cleveland had carried a 96-84 advantage into the fourth quarter and extended the lead by as many as 17 points. But the Knicks stormed back, winning the fourth quarter 42-28, behind 34 points from Jalen Brunson. After the crushing loss, the visitors locker room was somber -- and quiet.Editor's PicksThe Cavs were 'in the wilderness' after LeBron left: How they rebuilt, and why questions remainDave McMenaminDown 2-0 again, Cavs say task ahead undauntingJamal CollierNBA playoff takeaways: Thunder steal Game 3 on the road, go up 2-1 over SpursNBA insiders2 Related Mitchell, who had 34 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals, sat alone at his locker, reflecting on the night's loss and the Cavaliers' maddening start to the campaign. He had played one of his best games of the season, yet the Cavs lost and were barely hovering above .500. "You could just tell it really weighed on him," Cavaliers forward Dean Wade told ESPN. "He played out of his mind, he played his heart out. ... It was unbelievable. Hitting tough shots, doing everything he could to win. It really was awesome to watch. We just didn't play with the same intensity he played with." Suddenly, Mitchell called everyone's attention. "We got to be better," Mitchell told the team. And then he started passing out words of encouragement "He was like, 'We good,'" Wade said. "'We're fine.'" Still, the Cavaliers continued to falter. Two nights later, the Cavs lost by 17 points in Houston. Their record fell to 17-16. Despite the preseason hype -- some experts had predicted Cleveland would win the East -- the Cavs were injured, disjointed and alarmingly average. With the season in disarray, it was Mitchell

What the Cavaliers need to save their turbulent se...

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