'We made the moves. We've done the talk': The duo ...

playDonovan Mitchell on not getting foul calls: 'I don't flop' (1:31)Donovan Mitchell admits some frustration about not drawing more fouls and wonders if it's because he doesn't flop. (1:31) At the start of this Cavs 2026 playoff run, one of the most pivotal in the post-LeBron James-era teams in Cleveland, Mitchell spoke about the weight of being a superstar. It's lonely at the top, he told ESPN, and few players truly understand the burden it is to carry. He has been doing it a long time. That's why, he said, he was so grateful to have his new backcourt partner, James Harden, and it's why the Cavaliers acquired the 11-time All-Star -- to help Mitchell shoulder the enormous weight of being a team's No. 1 option. "I appreciate when you have a guy like that," Mitchell told ESPN. "He's been here. He's been where I'm at and trying to go to. I feel like being able to just talk to each other whenever, good, bad and indifferent." The Cavaliers made, perhaps, the boldest move of any team this season when they exchanged 26-year-old former All-Star point guard Darius Garland for the 36-year-old Harden. It teamed Mitchell, 29, up with a kindred spirit and tortured basketball soul. Harden and Mitchell have made the postseason in every year of their NBA careers, 17 seasons for Harden and nine for Mitchell. Yet, neither one has won a championship. Mitchell has never even made a conference finals. It is this shared void that the Cavs hope fuels their team toward a deep playoff run. From their first game together after the trade in February, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson says he has seen a natural chemistry between the two, one that clicked instantly. "This league is a lot about when you get a player in their career," Atkinson said last week. "I think we got James at the right time." The finale of Harden's evolution, from young bench scorer with the Thunder, to the volume scorer and perennial MVP candidate with the Houston Rockets, to a more traditional point guard role now, fits perfectly with what the Cavaliers need. He's comfortable in his role as a table setter and wants to impart his veteran leadership and wisdom to a Cavs team that hasn't been out of the second round since 2018. That effort is multifaceted. He's also trying to rewrite his own narrative surrounding his playoff shortcomings and doing so while trying to cement their synergy on the fly. "I know we are behind," Harden said. "What speeds that process up is communication and talking, helping each other out. "We have, I don't even know how many games together. So our communication during games, practice days, whatever, on the plane, is very, very important. That can get us over the hump." That the Cavs needed seven games to get past the No. 5-seeded Toronto Raptors in the first round only exacerbated those narratives, adding pressure to a duo and a franchise surrounded by palpable tension. After a dominant start to the Toronto series, neither Harden nor Mitchell played up to their lofty standards. Mitchell started the playoffs with back-to-back 30-point games but has been held under 25 points in six straight games since, averaging 20.5 points, shooting 30% from 3 and getting to the free throw line just 1.7 times per game. Harden, meanwhile, has turned the ball over more times than he has made field goals in three of his past six games. He has recorded such games 29 times throughout his playoff career -- the fifth most in NBA history. If this season is to end in more than a third straight second-round loss -- Cleveland already trails the top-seeded Detroit Pistons 1-0 entering Game 2 on Thursday night -- the Cavs will almost certainly need more from their star duo. How the Cavs finish this playoff run will have a significant impact on the reputations of the pair, and perhaps as importantly, define the future for the most expensive roster in basketball. "I've been here before, the pressure's really not -- I don't really feel it," Mitchell told ESPN. "This isn't pressure. Getting your next meal is pressure. Where am I going to live? You know, that's pressure. This is an opportunity. This is fun. "At least I know we put our best foot forward regardless of the result. ... In years past, some s--- just didn't go my way. Now I'm like: We made the moves. We've done the talk. Now, just continue to walk the walk." play1:31Donovan Mitchell on not getting foul calls: 'I don't flop'Donovan Mitchell admits some frustration about not drawing more fouls and wonders if it's because he doesn't flop. THEIR QUEST CONTINUES in a most familiar spot -- down 1-0 in a playoff series. Two days after their Game 7 triumph against the Raptors, Harden added yet another disjointed performance to his playoff résumé. He shot 2-of-8 through the first three quarters and turned the ball over five times. He has called his turnovers this postseason self-inflicted and vowed to clean them up, yet his 43 turnovers in eight games during this playoff run are the second most in the lea

'We made the moves. We've done the talk': The duo ...

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