Mitchell admits – Donovan Mitchell didn’t sugarcoat it after the Cleveland Cavaliers squandered a 22-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to the New York Knicks 114-103 in overtime in Game 1. Mitchell said the Cavs “should’ve won the game,” finishing with 29 points, but admitting
The moment Game 1 tilted, it felt like Cleveland’s grip slipped right through its own hands.
With the Cavaliers carrying momentum after their Game 7 win in the second round. they opened strongly against the Knicks. fending off an early New York run and building a lead that ballooned to as much as 22 points in the second half. The game was set up for Cleveland to take an early advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals—until the fourth quarter turned into something else entirely.
Even with a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter and a 99.9% chance to win by ESPN’s win-probability model. the Cavaliers allowed the Knicks back into the contest. The result was a 114-103 loss in overtime for Cleveland. a defeat that cost them the opportunity to steal home-court advantage from New York.
In his postgame press conference, Donovan Mitchell delivered the kind of blunt assessment that doesn’t leave room for comfort. The All-Star guard said the outcome was on Cleveland.
“Should’ve won the game,” Mitchell said. “Not gonna put it on [complacency or fatigue]. Even if there was complacency, we’re up 22 with God knows how much time – 8 minutes? We gotta win the game. We didn’t.”
Mitchell finished with 29 points on 12-23 shooting and 4-11 from three-point range. He also added five rebounds and three assists, along with six assists in the stat line described after the game—an enormous workload from their star, one that underlined how high the ceiling had been for Cleveland.
But when the Knicks started their charge late. Mitchell wasn’t the focal point in the way many Cleveland fans expected. Part of the issue was that the ball wasn’t being given to him. but Mitchell also didn’t hunt for shots as much as the Cavaliers’ fanbase wanted. The fourth-quarter collapse didn’t just erase a lead—it exposed a closing stretch that didn’t run through the player expected to pull it together.
The timing of this loss matters, too. Cleveland had been hoping to win Game 1 of the series to create much-needed breathing room after playing two seven-game series to reach this point. Instead, the Cavaliers now can’t afford to repeat the same mistake. They “cannot try to overcome a 0-2 series deficit again. ” and they’ll have a few days to make the adjustments needed to win Game 2.
The sting for Cleveland isn’t only the final score or the overtime that followed the collapse. It’s the sudden shift from a game that looked finished to one that slipped away—so quickly. and so completely. that even when the scoreboard explained the result. Mitchell had to say it out loud for what it really was: they should have won.
Donovan Mitchell Cleveland Cavaliers New York Knicks Game 1 Eastern Conference Finals 114-103 overtime playoff collapse fourth quarter lead