Cavs Top 3: Donovan Mitchell’s poor shooting night sinks Cleveland Cavilers vs. the Toronto Raptors

The Cleveland Cavaliers fell on their face against the Toronto Raptors.

We’re oversimplifying things by blaming the whole loss on Donovan Mitchell but believe us, he certainly didn’t do his part. Not only was he awful (4-16), he kept shooting. He had one field goal in nine attempts through the first two quarters, and wouldn’t score his other three until garbage time in the 4th quarter.

This isn’t the end of the world by any means, but Mitchell has got to abandon this superstar mentality he has where he thinks he can shoot his way out of a bad game. It doesn’t work like that. When Mitchell (or anyone on the team) is struggling to hit their shots, ball movement becomes more important than usual.

This team has a nasty habit of being ok with junk shots and forcing opportunities that don’t exist. It ends up becoming an issue and the Cavs end up wasting possessions because they’re trying to be cute and fancy. The Cavaliers work best when the ball is in motion. If that means Mitchell drops 20 instead of 30, so be it, the end game is to win.

Far too often, Mitchell and to a lesser extent Darius Garland will overlook the hot hands on their team to make sure they get their own touches. The only one who shot badly on Friday was Mitchell.

The Cavs shot 58% from and a respectable 38% from three without Mitchell. If Mitchell had deferred to other guys in the first when his first three or four shots didn’t fall, this game likely doesn’t get out of hand.

Not giving Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Kevin Love more shots will not make sense to me. It’s not even the scoring issue with Mitchell that should concern people. Garland and Mitchell’s defensive issues were severely exploited by the Raptors.

Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff completely agreed, talking about how the stars didn’t pull their weight. He told Cleveland media that he pulled his starters in three minutes into the second half because;

"They weren’t holding up their end of the bargain and they knew it."

The duo of Mitchell and Garland had defensive issues before they joined forces and now it’s further exploited. I keep reading and keep agreeing with the notion that Ricky Rubio will help with that problem.

But he can only help so much, eventually, the starters need to start putting in the effort if they want to win. The Cavs won that NBA title with LeBron James because James played relentless defense. He wasn’t great in that series but he never gave up. It doesn’t feel that way with Mitchell and Garland.

Because of the poor outing from the Cavs’ defense and Mitchell’s poor shooting night, an  Eastern Conference team finally won in Cleveland. The loss to the Raptors drops the Cavs to 22-12. They’re off until Monday when they face former Cavaliers player Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets.

Cleveland Cavaliers top 3 vs. the Toronto Raptors

1 Point – Isaac Okoro

20 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, -14 BPM
.667/.500/.833

2 Points –Cedi Osman

21 minutes, 13 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, -3 BPM
.556/.000/.600

3 Points –Kevin Love

19 minutes, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, +2 BPM
.600/.750/.800

Cavs Top 3 Seasonal Standings

1. Donovan Mitchell –49 Points
2. Darius Garland – 34 Points
3. Evan Mobley – 28 Points
4. Jarrett Allen – 23 Points
5. Cedi Osman – 22 Points
6. Kevin Love – 16 Points
7. Caris LeVert – 12 Points
8. Isaac Okoro – 6 Points
9. Dean Wade – 3 Points
10. Lamar Stevens – 2 Points