Donovan Mitchell Reveals Message to Teammates After Cavs Game 1 Loss
Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers went into New York looking like they were ready to leave MSG with a dominant Game 1 win, until the New York Knicks staged a remarkable comeback, winning the game 115-104 in overtime.
The Knicks trailed by as many as 22 points, but Jalen Brunson took over in the late stages of the contest, hitting big shot after big shot. New York’s All-Star guard finished with 38 points on 15-for-29 shooting to go with six assists and five rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns also contributed a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Mikal Bridges had 18 points to help the Knicks take a 1-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
On the opposing side, it was a disappointing collapse by Cleveland, and Mitchell shared his postgame message to the locker room after the tough loss.
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“Keep your head up, and go from there. Don’t let one quarter affect you for the rest of the series. It’s a long series. There’s things that we can do. Things that we did … positive things we can look forward to. We should’ve won the game. We didn’t. That’s one game … We lost. We [expletive] blew it. Respond for Game 2. Simple as that,” he shared with reporters.
Mitchell became known for Game 1 scoring outbursts, with ESPN revealing a graphic that he averages over 30 points per Game 1 in the playoffs. He finished with 29 points on 12-for-23 shooting, including 4-of-11 from downtown.
James Harden had 15 points, as did Evan Mobley, who also grabbed 14 rebounds. However, New York still controlled the rebounding battle, 47-38 for the first game of the series. The Knicks also dominated the paint, scoring 60 points there compared to 38 for the Cavs.
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The Game 1 loss doesn’t seem to faze Mitchell, as he appears ready to move on, which makes sense given their playoff results. This team has been in two tough series already and is battle-tested.
In the first-round series, the Toronto Raptors took them to seven games, with the Cavs winning Game 7. In their second-round series, they defeated the No. 1 seed Pistons in seven games, winning two of the final three on their opponents’ home court.
Making adjustments will be key for head coach Kenny Atkinson and his players as they review the game video to determine what went wrong that allowed a double-digit lead to evaporate. They’ll look to bounce back with a series-tying win in New York on Thursday night with Game 2 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 7:28 AM.