How the Cavs can use Donovan Mitchell as Stephen Curry without Darius Garland

Since Darius Garland sprained right toe 11 days ago, Donovan Mitchell has put a heavy burden on the Cleveland Cavaliers on the shoulders. Opponents, however, risk anyone else handling the ball, constantly ganging up on him when he has it and denying him touches without it. Over the weekend, ClutchPoints asked the Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson about the possibility of Mitchell moving away from the ball to combat it.

“Yeah, we talked about it,” Atkinson told ClutchPoints during Friday’s pregame press conference. “We talked about it against Charlotte. We knew they were going to shut him down and all that. I’m really familiar with that, with Steph (Curry). I can definitely use him in more screening actions. I think if teams keep doing that, we’ll see more.”

Although he doesn’t have many screen assists on the season (12), Mitchell has had some success as a player. In 16 possessions, he scored 1.13 points per possession in those scenarios, according to NBA Game Type Data. This isn’t to suggest that Cleveland has to employ this strategy every time it goes down, but mixing in the balls could be healthy for him and the team’s nutrition.

While Kari isn’t used that way, he’s a deadly option for a ghost screen that moves at will and is in constant motion. The last five games, Mitchell was covered with different defenders from various teams, because Curry has his entire career.

Philly 76ers swingman Kelly Oubre Jr. and first-year guard VJ Edgecomb started it nine days ago, which opponents have copied the Sunday since. We saw Lou Dort, Charlotte Hornets rookie Zion James (plus Kon Knuepel), Sacramento Kings veteran Dennis Schroeder, and Orlando Magic third-year Anthony Black.

Each was glued to Mitchell when he didn’t have possession of the rock, and when he did, the ball pressure was heavy. Opponents will replace Mitchell’s strong dribble offense for Cavs second-year guard Jaylon Tyson who is forced to make decisions, or even Evan Mobley who will act as a center while bringing him up the floor; the same goes for younger players like Craig Porter Jr. or Tyrese Proctor.

“It’s like you pick and choose,” Mitchell said. “It’s like, they’ve been trying to deny me the last five games, and credit to everybody in this locker room for figuring things out and playing on it. Now, (Mobley) is going. Now it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to stop Eve.’ But now, if they (throw) me two and I throw the ball to Jaylon, now Jaylon has all that space to create, right? And shout out to Jaylon because, in a half-roll, it’s him and me. That game between the two was phenomenal. Great credit goes to him and the effort he put in.

“Then it’s like, OK, now you get JA (Jarrett Allen). So (the defense) has to figure out where (it) wants to go. And then, on top of that, (if) you miss a layup, he’s there. You can just do different things and then reverse screens, little things to make our lives easier (all the little things to make it easier).

Mitchell expended a lot of energy finding space to operate, even more so than the last time Garland was left out.

“You’re going to be tired,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s another thing to figure out how to be smart.”

As one of his loudest supporters throughout the season, Mitchell noted that Tyson will need time and Cleveland’s less experienced guys to figure out ways to counter while chasing him. The All-Star point guard saw a near-costly turnover in which Tyson stopped and denied him a pass before he had even crossed half court; Malik Monk stole it and drained a 3-pointer that would have made it a one-point game with less than a minute left. Tyson had the right idea, but at the wrong time.

“I think it was more of a quirk than a beauty,” Atkinson said. “But they take away your two best players. Other guys (have to) play, and I think Jaylon has to do some of that for us until we get some guys back.”

With all the consistent good that Tyson, Porter, Proctor and Nae’Kwan Tomlin have brought to the table, this will be their next challenge.

“It’s like, ‘Hey, they’re guarding me like this. Let me do this, let me do that, and screen for you or get it in different pockets. Sometimes it’s just for this possession, I’m going to stop here and you have to play 4-on-4 in the open space,'” Mitchell explained. “So I’m just trying to manage it and not always just go and go and go. It started in Philly, and I think you just see everybody doing their roles at a higher level. It’s been great, too.”

The Cavs need to take better care of the basketball

The willingness to make those mistakes is better than the alternative of Mitchell being completely drained by the end of April. It should also help with the self-inflicted wounds that have held Cleveland back, as the team has committed 84 turnovers in those five games. Mitchell had 19, while Tyson (15), De’Andre Hunter (11), Mobley (10), Porter (8) and Allen (6) were to blame.

Atkinson attributes the increase in errors to several factors.

“Probably spacing first and decision making second,” Atkinson said. “We’re down a few, (slightly lower) gravity, and as gravity goes down, your losses go up. The more shooters you have on the floor, the easier it is to cut losses. So I’d say that explains most of it.

“I’m not thrilled with our decisions. Part of it is we’ve got to keep trusting our young guys, keep throwing them the ball when they’re open. I still think we’re trying to get through the gaps that aren’t there (when the defense is) in the paint. We can make one of our players cut, maybe he’s not so sometimes it’s not a great shooter for me, I said we do that sometimes. get two, three, four (sometimes we have not-great shooters);

On the other hand, the Cavs dug deep to overcome those mistakes and emerge victorious. They have won three straight games and 10 of their last 14, making them the current fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

“That’s how we continue to get along,” Mitchell said. “Now I don’t care how we do it as long as we keep winning. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s not going to be pretty. I think we’ve done a great job of believing as a team. Last year was over. It’s another year, another season. This is who we are. We will, and we will find ways to keep winning.”

“It’s a different story this year, isn’t it? There’s more parity in the league than ever. I think that’s a fact,” added Atkinson. “The race is tougher, so maybe you’re not going to go knock off 15 in a row. But I think the way it’s set up right now, if you can get three, four in a row, it can really push you up another seed, second place in the standings. So, I think for us, it becomes important to start putting some back-to-back wins together … we’re talking about it, but now we have to go there.