Donovan Mitchell disappointed with Cavs’ loss to Pistons: ‘I can’t relax’

The The Cleveland Cavaliers are breaking away with better games amid a healthier roster in recent weeks, but when the Detroit Pistons won a game by 10 possessions in Sunday afternoon’s 114-110 loss, it appeared the wine and gold have some work to do to get where they want to go. And yet Donovan Mitchell seeing positive results, the Cavs have work to do to get to that level.

“We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the ability. We know what we’ve got. Now we’ve got to go out there and do it,” Mitchell said after the game. “And we were, but, you know, nights like (Sunday), it stagnates you. And obviously, progress isn’t linear, right? You’re not just going to jump right (there). You’re going to have these obstacles and all these different things. But I think for us, we have to be consistent.”

“We can’t relax. We got off to a good start. It’s an energy change, right? And then you have to play catch-up. I think it’s communication, coverage, rebounding, whatever it is, we’ve got to come out better in the second quarter and then finish the half better.”

The Cavs were intentional out of the gate defensively until they allowed Detroit 47 points in the second quarter, 21 of which came from a red-hot Dennis Jenkins, which gave the visitors a lot of momentum.

“Sometimes it takes you away from it real quick,” Sam Merrill said. “We had a bunch of turnovers there. We didn’t rebound well in the first half, I think it was a little better in the second, but that was a big thing, those turnovers.”

“Dennis Jenkins is a hell of a player, and I’m not saying this to disparage him in any way, but he has seven of (10 shots) (from the field) on our fouls; some of them, he hits those shots, and credit to him. I had one, I think Craig (Porter Jr.) had one, Garland didn’t have one point, right DG (DG) didn’t have one point? that’s tough.”

Poor play in that period is the trend this season.

“Something we have to look at,” Cleveland’s head coach Kenny Atkinson he said. “Look at the combinations. Maybe keep two of our stars out there at the same time. We’ve got to help them. We’ve started Sam, and that obviously hurts the bench. So we just have to figure that out. Those minutes are definitely hurting us.”

The encounter was a back-and-forth affair that never got out of hand, with physical strength and defense from both sides. The Cavs trailed by 13 with five minutes left and went on a run but did not complete the comeback. Even when they held on late in the game, Ausar Thompson missed a field goal, which put the Pistons up four late.

Mitchell feels it was a match Cleveland should have won and not because of mistakes that “killed you” and “it’s on us”. He laid out the Pistons’ identity as a prime example of who they are every night, unlike the Cavs, who abandoned theirs too often. Although part of that is because they aren’t always whole, that can’t be the case in winnable situations like this one.

“We’re a defensive first team that gets out in transition when we’re at our best,” Mitchell said. “I mean, Evan (Mobley) had four blocks tonight. We did a lot of things well, but we just didn’t convert or we just didn’t stay locked in for 48 minutes.”

Asked whether or not they appear to be a defensive team, Mitchell was transparent.

“Occasionally, and I think that’s the problem, don’t you?” Mitchell said. “There are times and periods where it’s like, ‘Man, this is us. Stop and run.’ And then, there are times when we don’t, and that’s part of the inconsistency. And it’s connected to so many things, isn’t it? There are so many things that go into it, but we do a lot of things (better). We are in an upward trend.

“But at the same time, I’m always the guy that says, ‘Look, 9, 10, 11, 12 games, let’s keep making it.’ (Sunday) just isn’t it. But, you know, we’re getting there. We hang in there and continue to find ways to improve.”

Atkinson said Detroit was “the better team” in that matchup.

“I know we competed until the end and we came, but I didn’t feel like we were there the whole game,” Atkinson said. “I felt like they deserved this game. They had the upper hand most of the game. I thought we made a hell of a run at the end, and we had a super competitive group, and I’m taking the positives. But as far as who outplayed who, it was definitely them.”

Sting week for Cleveland, a a group that feels much better about the way it plays lately.

“I think we have all the talent, all the skills,” Merrill said. “And I absolutely feel like we’re not playing at the level that maybe they’re playing at right now — you are what your record says you are at this point — but I think we’re starting to play up to the level that we know we’re capable of.”

“And there are ups and downs in the season, and sometimes the downs are a little bit longer than we’d like, but I feel confident about where we’re going and I feel like we’re doing a lot of the right things, and we’re just going to keep pushing and we think hopefully we’re going to get better and better.”