Reliable and sick contributors in Cavaliers’ road loss to Wolves
By Dalton Livesay
Cavs dud: Rough for a respected spida
Hours before the Cavaliers game in Minnesota, Chris Fedor NBA reporter for Cleveland.com reported via Twitter that Donovan Mitchell was listed as questionable due to illness.
About an hour out from tip, Fedor then reported via Twitter:
If you watched the game, you could see that Spida wasn’t feeling his senses. Now playing in his sixth NBA season, it’s unusual to see Mitchell play with no spark. A guy fighting for his team showing up to work sick. He was clocked in for the most minutes (36.8) on the Cleveland squad during the game Saturday but shot 31.3 percent from the field on 5-of-16 shooting.
I’d say being under the weather has a lot to do with not being able to get your legs to work under you. On Saturday, the star guard shot a tough 22.2 percent from 3-point range on 2-of-9 shooting. He got to the line four times and shot fifty percent with two turnovers in the ball game. Even on an off night he still found a way to make an impact on the team leading them with six assists.
I’m not putting the loss on Mitchell, no shot. But it was his weakest game of the five-game road trip. The Cavs cut themselves short of winning a game where the opposing team was without a couple of All-Star pieces.
You don’t panic because it’s part of the growing pains. In what was a dud game from Don, you have to believe that if he was healthy and provided a little more spark, they had this wrapped. Don leads and the Cavs follow. The dud game comes with a positive. Respect. More respect.
Giving Cleveland one of the greatest games of all time from a Cavalier not named Lebron James is something to hang your hat on alone. If you’re not all the way in on Donovan Mitchell by now then I don’t know what to tell you.
You wonder if Mitchell will be ready to play in Monday’s home game when the Pelicans come to town on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was a tough game for a tough player who puts it on the line for his squad, full health or not, fighting for a top seed in the east