Donovan Mitchell, Cavs have golden opportunity for 2023 payback vs. Knicks

The Cleveland Cavaliers took a moment to celebrate their second-round NBA playoff series win over the Detroit Pistons, but it’ll be back to business in a heartbeat. Up next is the Eastern Conference Finals, where the New York Knicks will have waited for nine days to renew their rivalry with the Cavs by the time Game 1 tips at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson and All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell know this will be a mighty challenge.

“They’re rested, and they’re a juggernaut right now,” Atkinson said. “That’s what it is. It’s hard to blow out teams in the playoffs like they’ve been blowing out teams. Point differential means something in this league. So, I don’t know, we’ve got to get on the film and look. I know KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns] is playing great. Everybody’s like… they’re playing great basketball. So we’ve got to try to go in there and steal Game 1 somehow.”

“It obviously starts with Jalen Brunson and KAT, but Mikal [Bridges] and OG [Anunoby] have been phenomenal, Josh Hart. Look at their bench. It’s been great,” Mitchell added. “We know them, obviously, but I think the biggest thing is they’ve been off. They got a bunch of rest, so we’ve got to be ready to go from the jump, from Game 1. And yeah, it’s great I get to play at home, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to be locked in and ready to go, and I know we will be.”

Unlike Cleveland, which has played every other day from April 29 and on, the Knicks haven’t had a game since May 10’s road trouncing of the Philadelphia 76ers.

“It’s a grind, no doubt,” Sam Merrill said. “You never know how teams are gonna react to a week off or whatnot. I think it’s good for us. Just keep grinding.

“I think we do a great job of taking care of our bodies and getting recovery on off days. Obviously, in the playoffs, it’s much more physical, but the pace is slower. I feel like, at least for me so far, it hasn’t felt quite as difficult. But we’ve got a quick turnaround here, got to get on a flight right now, do a day of prep and get our bodies right and try and go out and win Game 1.”

Cavs and Knicks: Version 2.0

Things have changed quite a bit for both of these teams since 2023. At that time, Atkinson was a part of the Golden State Warriors’ staff, filling the void that now-Knicks head coach Mike Brown left to lead the Sacramento Kings.

Brunson, Hart, Mitchell Robinson, and Miles McBride return for the Knicks, as do Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Dean Wade, and Sam Merrill for the Cavs, but outside of that, there’s been a wave of roster turnover.

Gone are Darius Garland, Isaac Okoro, RJ Barrett, and Julius Randle, as new veteran stars like Towns and James Harden will be part of the newest chapter instead. Team identities have evolved, role players are more experienced, and timelines have accelerated. Each organization has its eyes on championship gold, primed to take the next step toward the NBA Finals.

“It’s basically two completely different teams, but it is kind of full circle,” Merrill said. “They’re firing on all cylinders right now, so we know it’s gonna be a challenge. But we just keep getting better, keep growing, keep working through things. We feel confident about the group that we have, the talent that we have, the coaching that we have, that we’ll be able to give ourselves a real chance here.”

The Knicks won the season series 2-1 but dropped the last contest against Cleveland in a loss at Rocket Arena.

New York was on this stage last postseason and fell short against the Indiana Pacers, the same team that shocked the Cavs and sent them packing in the second round. Now, the Knicks are looking to pick up where they left off, while Cleveland will aim to exact its revenge on the same platform it has not reached since 2018.

“A breath of fresh air,” Mitchell said. “But we didn’t just come here just to [make this the] goal when we started the season. Even last year, when we lost to Indiana, we had our goals set on getting to the Finals, and we’re just one step closer. But, yeah, it’s been almost a decade of running into the same issue, right? So, for sure, I personally and as a team, we can breathe a little bit.

“But in the same token, we can only breathe for about 12 hours and then get right back to it. So it’s a balance. It’s a blessing. God is good. I wouldn’t be here without my teammates, but we’ve got work to do coming up for sure.”

The lights are brighter… again

New York’s dominant style is what shell-shocked the Cavs three years ago. Robinson manhandled the paint, Hart crashed for rebounds at will, and Brunson bullied his way off two feet to make life difficult with mid-rangers and scoop shots. Cleveland has been trying to rewrite the narrative of its mental and physical makeup from that juncture.

“I mean, I’ve never believed in that stuff,” Merrill said. “I think we’ve definitely grown in areas, there’s no doubt. That’s what happens when you go through playoff series and wars and disappointments and whatnot. You have to grow. But I think our resiliency throughout this run so far has been really important and has really grown.

“Game 5, Toronto, we were down at half. They have the crazy game-winner Game 6. We’re down in the first half Game 7. Down 2-0 in this [Detroit] series, lose a potential clinching game at home. All that stuff are opportunities to fold, and we have really responded as a group. It’s not gonna get any easier; we’re obviously playing a great team coming up, so we’re going to have to continue to grow in those areas.”

Mitchell doesn’t subscribe to the “soft” allegations, and, having a front-row seat to Allen and Mobley’s maturation, he knows that everyone on the team grasps the moment at hand.

“I think we just… we know what it takes,” Mobley said. “We know what we have to do. It’s a team effort. It’s not just on any one person, any big, any small. It’s a team effort. When you play as a team, and we rebound, and we play defense and are all on a string and offensively, push the pace and play with force, it’s a great brand of basketball, and we usually come up with wins.

“Not everyone gets to make it this far, so you can’t take it for granted. You’ve got to know what it takes, and I think everyone in here knows that. We’ve been through two tough series so far, and we’ve just got to continue to fight through it all and keep this thing going.”

When training camp commenced back in September, Atkinson plastered Cleveland’s playoff record on a big board. It read 11-15, a short, sweet, and to-the-point edict that improvement was mandatory.

“I think this was just the next step for us,” Atkinson said. “I’ve been saying all year, we have a lot to prove, and we still have more to prove. That’s kind of the next part of it. But we proved something to ourselves that we could take another step. So, just looking forward to this challenge, this next challenge for us.”

Asked whether or not it’s more motivating to conquer that against the Knicks, Mobley replied with a stone face: “Next step is [to] win another series.”

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