Mitchell will be anything but a hometown hero to N.Y. pals
It wasn’t an easy decision. But it was one Donovan Mitchell had to make.
“I’ve cut off a lot of communication with a lot of my friends, to be honest with you. I left some group chats,” the Cavaliers’ superstar guard recalled with a laugh before Cleveland’s ugly 99-79, Game 3 loss Friday night at a sold-out Garden. “So, I assume they want me to do the best I can and the Knicks come out with a win.”
Mitchell, of course, nearly was a Knick. When the Jazz began to tear down their roster, the Knicks were seen as not just a likely destination for the Elmsford, N.Y., native and former Louisville star, but the eventual one. The two sides, however, could never agree upon a deal, and the four-time All-Star went to Cleveland instead.
As the regular season wound down, and it became apparent the Knicks and Cavaliers would be meeting in the first round of the playoffs, Mitchell knew what was coming in terms of the hype and the hysteria. He had to remove all distractions. His friends from the area are almost all Knicks fans.
“As far as my friends go, I hope they see this,” he joked. “Y’all can kiss my ass. I love y’all, though.”
Mitchell added: “It’s all love with my friends. But they love to bark.”
They would’ve had a lot of ammunition Friday night.
Mitchell was held to 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting, along with six costly turnovers and a minus-19 rating in 38 minutes as the Knicks went ahead in the series, 2-1. He had performed very well in this series up to this point, following up a 38-point explosion in Game 1 with 17 points and 13 assists in Game 2. Those games were played at friendly Rocket Mortgage Field-House. Game 3 was not. He was a villain in his hometown, booed throughout the Cavaliers’ lopsided loss.
“It’s fun, as a competitor you want to be booed,” he said before the game. “That’s something that’s just a lot of fun. … When I look back in 20, 25 years, I can say I went through a lot of fun experiences.”
This wasn’t fun, though. This was ugly. Now, the Cavaliers have to find a way to win at the Garden on Sunday to avoid falling into a 3-1 hole. They have yet to win there in three chances this season. At times in the third quarter, Mitchell was seen on the bench trying to fire up his teammates, vocally imploring them to get going. It didn’t work.
“It was a rough, scrappy game and obviously shots weren’t falling, but I think the biggest thing is we just have to find a way to fight at the end and that’s all I was really doing,” he said. “Leadership comes in different forms. At that point, I feel like it was a good thing that coach [J.B. Bickerstaff] came in and had the same message.”