Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell repeats same 3 words after RJ Barrett’s Raptors game-winner

The Cleveland Cavaliers have no choice but to look ahead after their stunning Game 6 loss to the Toronto Raptors. RJ Barrett’s game-winner at the buzzer that bounced off the back iron, plinko’d around the cylinder, and fell through the net with 1.2 seconds in overtime left Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and the Cavs stunned, frustrated, and exasperated.

“Scottie [Barnes] was about to get downhill, so I wanted to help a little bit,” Evan Mobley explained from his vantage point. “He passed it out, I got a good contest on it. It hit back rim, I thought it was gonna go out. It went in… yeah.”

“D***,” Mitchell shared of his reaction. “But there’s nothing to be deflated about. Just got to protect home court. Now, if this was Game 7 and that happened, then, [you feel] a little different. But we had an opportunity. Didn’t happen. We’ve got to protect home court. Doesn’t matter if we lost by 30. Two. Protect home court. That’s all you can do.”

Mitchell’s answer to every question in his media availability included the same phrase about protecting home court, which indicates a short memory necessary in the playoffs. There won’t be any time for the Cavs to feel sorry for themselves, as Sunday will get here sooner than they think.

“I’m frustrated for five minutes,” James Harden said in the locker room. “One more game. Can’t dwell on them too long. It’s okay. We lost Game 4 similarly. We should have won that game too, but… can’t dwell on it. Watch film, get better, and be ready to go. It’s simple. Can’t look back at it.”

“It’s tough,” Dean Wade added. “It’s just one of those shots that hits the back rim and goes straight up. Yeah, it was a crazy shot. I feel like that’s happened before. It was crazy. It doesn’t make it any easier or harder or anything like that. We still lost the game. We’ve got some things we’ve got to clean up a little bit before Game 7, but overall we fought pretty hard at the end and came back, and we did some good things.”

Mobley, who had an impressive 26 points, 14 points, and 3 assists in 41 minutes, feels the same.

“Just bring everyone together,” Mobley said of his mindset. “We’ve got one game that we’ve got to win, and it’s at home. This is what we fought early in the season [for], to get home court advantage. So, ball’s in our court, and we’ve just got to come together and produce and come out with a win.”

As the longest tenured member of the Cavs, there’s been no lack of heartache for Wade. It’s something that he’ll draw on when the chips are down at Rocket Arena in less than 48 hours.

“I think this group has been through so many different basketball experiences. You can say in every situation,” Wade said. “Been through games like this. We’ve all had experiences that weren’t great in basketball, and I think just going through those and lean back into them now. I mean, it’s pretty easy to get over now. We can dwell on it for an hour or two, but we know we’re still alive.

“We’ve still got one game left, and it’s back at our home court, and that’s where we play the best at. We’ve got some things to go over, but I mean, overall. I think it’s not too hard to get over this one. It definitely stings a little more than the other losses, but we’ll get over it just like we are right now.”

A pivotal moment lies ahead for Cleveland, which has to lay it all on the line to keep its season and championship hopes alive. Mitchell won’t go down without a fight, and neither will his guys.

“Half of the locker room’s been here before,” Mitchell said. “James has been there. Dennis [Schroder] has been there. Really, outside of Jaylon [Tyson], I don’t think anybody else [hasn’t]. We’ve literally went through this exact scenario. I kind of talked about it last year with the playoffs: there’s something to kind of grab to. You remember those moments, and it’s going to test us. I’m not saying we’re going to come in and just [dominate]… They’re going to fight, and we’re going to fight, and we’ve got to be willing to just continue to do that.

“But as a leader, man, hey, the ball went in the air, went in the rim. We held them to 12 points [in the fourth quarter]. We did a solid job of coming back. We did a lot of positive things. A lot of positive things. This man to my right’ [Mobley] has been phenomenal. That doesn’t go away because the ball went in the hoop. If that ball bounces up, we’re having a whole different conversation. But, it didn’t, so now we’ve got to continue to muster up the same energy we’ve had and win at home.”

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