The Cavaliers opened up Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse Sunday hopeful to give the city of Cleveland a much-needed win over the Washington Wizards following another Browns loss. The Wine and Gold appeared to feel that pressure to start as the Wizards jumped out to a 13-3 lead which in turn led to a JB Bickerstaff tech for arguing with the officials.
However, the fiery coach might have lit a fire under his own team as Donovan Mitchell, filling the role as playmaker AND distributor with Darius Garland still out with his eye injury, responded to his coach.
The newest Cavalier finished with 37 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists but also turned the ball over 6 times. Two of those cough-ups happened with under a minute left and Mitchell also missed the game-winner at the end of regulation in a very Browns-ian collapse which led to the Wizards forcing overtime. However, the man they called Spida tried bouncing back in the extra session despite an early offensive foul that left all in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse scratching their heads. Questionable officiating was nothing new this Sunday in Cleveland sports, the Cavs even challenged the call but to no avail. What happened next though is relatively new in Cleveland sports, Mitchell and the Cavs worked through the collapse and the soft whistles.
Another questionable call on the defensive end went in the Wizards favor but Kyle Kuzma missed the resulting free throws (ball don’t lie). Spida then drove the lane and picked up an And-1 to put the Cavaliers back in front 108-106 in OT. Mitchell then stole a Bradley Beal pass, before LeVert sent it to Cedi Osman on a breakaway leading to another Wine and Gold And-1 for a 111-106 Cleveland lead. Another rogue foul call led to Kristaps Porzingis missing a Wizards free throw followed by another Mitchell drive which drove the lead to 113-106. Jarrett Allen dunked over Porzingis to bump the lead to 115-107 before a few Donovan Mitchell free throws while being serenaded with MVP chants sealed the Cavs 117-107 win. The MVP chants may be a tad premature, but Coach JB Bickerstaff and Jarrett Allen agree with the sentiment.
“The determination to help his team win, his ability to pick his spots, take control of the game when he needs to,” said Bickerstaff when asked about his take-aways from Mitchell’s performance. “And the leadership, the want to carry his teammates with him. The way he embraces his teammates, it's a needed 37, its not empty what you're seeing from him. We need every one of them."
“37 that's tough to come back any night but especially a home opener, the lights are on he showed out but on the defensive end he's talking to us, on the offensive end he's making sure we're in the right spots,” said Allen.
During the game, Mitchell set the Cavalier record for most points scored in a player’s first 3 games with the franchise, but his scoring touch wasn’t exactly what led to the Wine and Gold winner Sunday night. JB thinks his short-term memory played a part in the victory.
“He's just got belief and he's got confidence in himself. We believe in him, he knows that. His teammates believe in him, he knows that,” said Bickerstaff. “He's done it before and he's the kind of guy who doesn't want to let his teammates down, so he took it on himself to make something happen. It makes them believe they can overcome the odds because he's there to help carry and take them through adversity and tough times. They've always been a resilient group, they've always stuck together in good times, bad times, and fought their way through things.”
Another playmaker who stepped up was Cedi Osman, the 6TH year pro, who’s been in and out of the doghouse with multiple renditions of the Wine and Gold but provided the needed spark off the bench after a slow start for the Wine and Gold to finish with 16 points.
“I think we have a balanced group of guys who play well in their roles and well to their strengths,” said Bickerstaff. “We have a lot of conversations about where guys fit and how they can help the team and we're fortunate that our guys just buy in to it.”
Jarrett Allen had his hands full with Kristaps Porzingis most of the night, but Allen got the upper hand with a block on the Latvian then had a flush of his own in overtime to finish with a double-double 15 points and 14 rebounds. The All-Star center knows it won’t be easy some nights but that’s the kind of player he is.
“I'm out there doing my job, (JB) challenged me to be the hardest working player on the floor and that's part of me leading by example,” said Allen. “Go out there and try hard on the defensive end, hopefully everybody follows me.”
But as far as who the Cavs followed Sunday night, Allen had to go back to Mitchell, the 3-time All-Star who’s had the best debut in Wine and Gold through three games.
“He's just a good dude, that's what it boils down to,” said Allen. “He's easy to talk to, he doesn't boast about his accomplishments, he's one of the hardest workers every day in the gym. It's easy to root for a guy like that and it's easy to follow somebody's lead like that."