The Cleveland Cavaliers were missing Darius Garland, De'Andre Hunter, and Max Strus for their season opener against the New York Knicks. The shortcomings of not having those players available really showed up in a painful way. The Cavaliers reverted to old habits, with no success to show for it.
Cleveland went into halftime trailing 65-50. The offense tried to experiment, putting more focus on Evan Mobley. The results showed for the Cavaliers big man, with a strong first half, but the overall offense was lackluster.
The second half featured an offensive explosion from Donovan Mitchell. The Cavaliers guard dropped 21 points in the third quarter to get Cleveland back in the game against New York. The Cavaliers outscored the Knicks 37-22.
That formula would ultimately leave them falling short, with the Cavaliers losing a disappointing 119-11 ball game to the Knicks to start the season 0-1. Mitchell's heliocentric brand of basketball did not win them this matchup, and it won't do anything for Cleveland's title hopes in the postseason.
Mitchell’s approach highlighted the exact flaws the Cavaliers must fix fast
To be crystal clear, this is no knock on Mitchell. His impressive showing in the third quarter got the Cavaliers back in the game against the Knicks. Without it, and that brand of basketball, the margin of victory could have been much larger for New York.
The problem here is that defaulting back to a high usage brand of offense with Mitchell at the forefront will not set the Cavaliers up for playoff success. It has never been good enough to get his teams past the second round of the postseason throughout his career.
It's not like the loss is on Mitchell's shoulders, far from it. The idea here is to take a step back and address the bigger picture for the Cavaliers.
Without Garland, the offense for Cleveland was always bound to look different than what it would at its optimal form. However, this is the time to experiment with new options on that end, and not revert back to a comfort zone that has a limited ceiling for the team as a whole.
Perhaps there could have been more creativity had a similar issue not emerged. Mobley disappeared from the offensive end for a large stretch of the second half. It is worth asking: How much of that is him, and how much of that was what the Cavaliers as a whole?
Creativity, exploration, and tactical evolution should be the challenge for Kenny Atkinson and his players night in and night out. That will be easier when the team is at full strength, but no matter who is available, the goal should be adding new wrinkles, not repeating old cycles.