Cleveland's playoff slide is becoming impossible to ignore. The No. 3 seed Cavaliers fell 107-101 to Detroit on Wednesday night, dropping their second straight on the road and falling behind 0-2 in an Eastern Conference semifinal they entered as a clear favourite. After scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to take their first lead since the opening possession, the Cavaliers were outscored 28-16 down the stretch — the second straight game in which Detroit had closed Cleveland out in the clutch.
Donovan Mitchell, who finished with a quiet night offensively and was visibly hobbled in the second half, refused to make excuses. He pointed the blame inward and said the Cavaliers had been on the wrong end of this script too many times in the playoffs already.
"Timely makes by them. Timely offensive rebounds. Timely misses by us. I think we own all that as a collective," Mitchell said. "I'll go back and watch the film, but my initial response is just they countered, they hit and they did what they were supposed to do. They won two at home."
The pattern is the part that should worry Cleveland most. Asked why his team has trailed by double digits in seven of its last eight playoff games, Mitchell shifted the focus from Detroit's gameplan to Cleveland's own decision-making.
"The biggest thing starts with: it's self-inflicted. I feel like it's turnovers. We won the possession game in a sense, but the way we started, I think hasn't been great. We got to figure that out," Mitchell said. "The turnovers, the little things, little details on a lot of the stuff is self-inflicted. But when we get home, we'll clean that up and go from there."
Mitchell brushed off questions about whether he was playing through pain in the second half. He said the cameras catching him hobbled in transition were not a sign of injury, just a tough night, and that he came off the floor in the fourth quarter for a planned breather rather than as a precaution.
"Nothing," he said when asked what he was playing through. Pressed again — "You looked a little hobbled" — Mitchell repeated himself: "Nope."
The Game 2 loss is now the second straight in which Cleveland have led by as many as 14 points in the second half, then watched a clutch run get away from them. Bickerstaff's Pistons have not just won the late minutes — they have won them with the same lineup, the same physicality, and the same identity Detroit's coach has been preaching since the playoffs began.
Closing time, Mitchell suggested, is one of the things Cleveland have to take ownership of. The clutch numbers are damning: in two consecutive games, the Cavaliers' starting unit has spotted Detroit double-digit leads, then required heroic comebacks just to be in the game in the fourth, then watched the offensive rebound, the timely make, or the turnover go the other way.
Mitchell did not promise Game 3 would be different. He said only that the Cavaliers' problems are problems Cleveland can fix on their own.
"Decision-making and spacing. I know it sounds simple, but you watch the film, just — the things that we can control. We get a rebound, give ourselves a chance to score a basket, score a basket, and either tie a game or cut it to a one-point game," Mitchell said. "It's not much of a huge margin. Like, our error is small. Limit turnovers, rebound the basketball, and that we'll be fine."
Game 3 is Saturday at Rocket Arena. Cleveland have not lost a home playoff game in this postseason. They will need that record to hold — and they will need a healthier, sharper Mitchell, and a starting unit that has found a way to start a basketball game on time.
