Donovan Mitchell Takes Full Accountability For Cavaliers’ Losing Streak

Still wearing his jersey, Donovan Mitchell sat in front of his locker on Friday night, despondently peering into the distance while collecting his thoughts.

The mood was warranted – and he also knew the problem. But it was hard to formulate the words to describe what’s affecting Cleveland right now. After all, it was the only modicum of adversity they’ve faced in six months.

The Cavaliers had just dropped their fourth consecutive game, this time a double-digit loss to the unimpressive Phoenix Suns battling to get into the playoffs. All of a sudden, Cleveland found itself taking a violent left turn from their 16-game winning streak that spanned five weeks.

After roughly 10 minutes sitting there, Mitchell got up, walked to the nearest wall, and told the media contingent he’s ready to talk.

“Put this one on me,” he said patting himself on the chest. “When your leader ain’t doing sh**, this is what happens. Yeah, we have to guard better and rebound, sh** like that. But if I’m not being who I need to be, then we’re not going to get where we want. Until that happens – and it will – yeah. If you need anybody to point to, it’s right here.”

Over the course of five minutes, there were nine separate times during his postgame media session where he told us to blame him. If, indeed, there was someone to blame (as an aside, maybe this is what’s wrong with sports media in 2025 – always needing to point the finger in a team competition).

It was jarring to see Mitchell so out of rhythm against Phoenix, shooting 2-of-18 from the field and not exactly getting to the free throw line consistently to make up for it.

But this level of accountability is what’s needed for a team trying to break through the Eastern Conference barrier this spring. Mitchell learned a lot about leadership from his five years in Utah. Sometimes the hard way, and other times from the mentorship of older vets, such as Mike Conley.

Even in the early stages of his prime, Mitchell has reached the point where he’s seasoned in his own right. He’s played in nearly 600 career games and 10 playoff series before age 29. He’s seen it all, even without the championship success.

So he’s aware of what’s considered unacceptable from a team’s offensive engine, a role he often assumes. And his lack of production isn’t meeting those standards.

“We’ve been playing like this for the past four games and we’ve lost four straight,” Mitchell said. “Have to be better, simple as that. You can point to all these different things. Yeah, KD had [41 points]

or whatever. We gave up some – f*** all that. It’s on me. I have to be better for our group.”

Is he the reason they’re stumbling?

Hardly. As he alluded to, the defensive slippage is real.

In those four losses, Cleveland has surrendered 125.7 points per 100 possessions. For context, the worst defense in basketball (New Orleans) has allowed 120.1 per 100 possessions for the season. That’s more worthy of blame, if we’re being honest.

“Four games don’t define who I am as a player,” he said. “But it’s going to be loud. When we’ve had success the way we’ve had, and then lose four straight, it’s easy to point to [my shooting]. For me, it’s just doubling down on my work. I’m not going to run from it. I’m not going to run from the criticisms. This is the road I have. This is my job.”

Mitchell isn’t wrong. It’s much easier to look at his performances with a perplexed look on your face. Since the start of March, he hasn’t been himself. It goes back longer than just this four-game losing streak.

There have been 11 different eight-game stretches of his career where he’s attempted at least 80 shots with a true shooting mark below 47 percent. Those spans are shown in the table below.

This current stretch, dating back to March 4, is tied for his least effiicient:

Mitchell hasn’t struggled like this since before the COVID shutdown in the 2019-20 season.

He’s also in the midst of the worst 3-point shooting slump of his career over eight games, minimum 40 attempts. He’s shooting 12-of-67 from long range since the beginning of March.

While Mitchell says he’s able to feel like himself “in spurts,” that’s never good enough for a player of his stature. Not in today’s competitive landscape, or when the Eastern Conference leaders have a target on their back.

Every night, the Cavs get the opponent’s best shot. And it makes sense – with Cleveland having one of the highest offensive ratings of all time (nearly eight points better than league-average), every opposing coach will try to deploy various strategies to disrupt their game or blow up their favorite actions.

Is Mitchell, the six-time All-Star and someone who appeared on MVP ballots earlier in the year, worried about his shooting numbers?

Not particularly. Sure, he knows it needs to turn around. But he’s taking the glass half-full approach by realizing it’s better to suffer now than during the postseason.

“Just one of those moments,” he said. “As much as it sucks, I’d rather it happen today. You know what I’m saying? But I work too damn hard to just give in to this. You just have to keep pushing, keep plugging away.”

After Friday’s game, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson attempted to take the pressure off his superstar guard. Having coached in the NBA for 17 years, Atkinson has been around players who hit a funk. It’s inevitable.

Interestingly, he likened Mitchell’s last eight games to baseball stars who suddenly find themselves in a rut. Was it intentional, knowing how much America’s pastime lives in Mitchell’s blood?

Perhaps. But we’ll never know.

“He’s been batting .400, I’ll keep using that (analogy)” Atkinson said with a chuckle. “He’s been Ted Williams all year. But you’re just going to have moments like this during a season. We’ve been running him hard. This was the third game in four nights. It’s just a reality of the NBA, even for the great ones. I mean, I’ve seen it happen to KD, seen it happen to Booker. It’s just part of it.”

Mitchell, a die-hard New York Mets fan largely because of his father, knows the comparison is apples to oranges. Basketball stars are subjected to far more toxic discourse and scrutiny than baseball players in the modern media sphere. Plus, with fewer games, an ugly two weeks in the NBA usually signals a five-alarm fire and overreactions.

But that’s okay. He accepts the responsibility and understands that you can’t have it both ways – if you’re going to hear MVP chants at home games and expect to make the All-NBA Team in a few weeks, then you can’t deflect the criticism when you play poorly.

“I mean in baseball, when you fail seven times out of 10, you’re still elite,” Mitchell said. “So it’s different. “When you’re a player like myself who has proven I can be elite on a consistent basis … when you’re not, it’s pretty glaring. I’ve been through something like this before. Keep working. This is what builds character. I’m a sicko for this sh** and this is what tests who you really are mentally. I have no doubt, and I haven’t lost confidence in my ability. It’s going to come.”

Atkinson is known for focusing on the positives. That’s what made him such a beloved coach in Brooklyn despite leading a non-playoff team. Players enjoyed his approach and the degree to which he empowered them.

He’s now calling for the Cavs to rally around their star.

“In these moments, I feel like we have to lift him up,” Atkinson said. “We need people to come and help him … we can’t expect every single night to have (Mitchell) do that. He’s there 98% of the time. We’ll take that.”

Is this recent losing skid a sign of what’s ahead for Cleveland? Does a streak of this magnitude wash away everything they’ve built from October to early March?

No. Operating with that logic wouldn’t be wise.

Sometimes, this is just what happens to top-seeded teams. The Cavs are on pace to win 66 games and still boast the 15th highest SRS score, a metric weighing point differential against strength of schedule, we’ve ever seen.

Plus, there’s many instances of past championship squads hitting a temporary roadblock – especially during the dog days of the schedule.

The Denver Nuggets suffered four straight losses in March 2023, falling to the Bulls, Spurs, Nets, and Raptors. None of which could be mistaken for contenders. Guess what – they still captured the West’s number one seed and cruised to a championship.

A year before that, the Golden State Warriors lost five consecutive games to begin March 2022. Stephen Curry was in the lineup for four of those games. They hit another cold spell a few weeks later and had to enter the playoffs as the number three seed. Yet, when push came to shove, they recovered their mojo and won another title.

How about the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021? You guessed it … the same thing. There was a point in February where the Bucks lost five games in a row, followed by a nine-game stretch in April where they had a 3-6 record.

In the end, nobody remembers the lulls. Because those teams channeled their resilence and flipped a switch when it mattered.

The Cavs will soon lock up homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference (holding a six-game lead over the Boston Celtics when accounting for the tiebreaker).

When Mitchell snaps out of this late-season nightmare, everyone in the locker room will benefit. It may ultimately bring the team closer together, which can only be a good thing with playoff intensity fast approaching.

“They always have my back,” Mitchell said about his teammates. “That’s the best thing about this group. We’re tight-knit. They definitely won’t put this on me, and I appreciate that.”

Before heading to the bus and flushing another poor game out of his memory, Mitchell gives one final vow.

“You all know how I am,” he said. “You all know I carry this. And I’ll be better.”