Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers go into the NBA playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the highest-scoring offense during the regular season and one of the favorites for the championship.
However, Mitchell knows this season's accomplishments will be hollow if the Cavaliers can't make a deep postseason run.
鈥淎t the end of the day, it comes down to right now,鈥� Mitchell said on Saturday as the Cavaliers prepare to host the Miami Heat in the first game of their first-round series on Sunday. 鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e shown it (being a good team) throughout the course of this season. You鈥檝e seen the development from everyone in this group. It comes down to taking care of business.鈥�
This will be the third postseason for Cleveland's core group of Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
The Cavaliers lost to the New York Knicks in the first round in 2023 in five games. Last year, they advanced past the first round by beating the Orlando Magic in seven games before being eliminated in the East semifinals by the eventual champion Boston Celtics in five.
There is more pressure though this time around after 64 wins in the regular season and averaging 121.9 points.
Mitchell also hopes the Cavaliers can show over the next couple weeks that they deserve more national attention.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 get the respect we deserve,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚 think to be fair, we鈥檝e shown over the course of the year who we can consistently be. We have shown we can be a high-octane team on offense and lockdown on defense.鈥�
For the Heat, the pressure is off. A 37-win team typically doesn鈥檛 make the playoffs, nor does a team that lost 10 games in a row late in the season. And until now, there hadn鈥檛 been a No. 10 seed entering the Play-In Tournament that found a way to win two road elimination games and get into the postseason.
But here they are. And now they face a Cavs team that finished four wins back of Oklahoma City for the best record in the NBA this season.
鈥淲e have an incredible appreciation and I鈥檓 so grateful that we鈥檙e in the playoffs,鈥� Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the first team to do it 鈥� why not? 鈥� to take on two road games to be able to get an invitation into this tournament. You have to respect what Cleveland has done all year long. They鈥檝e played probably the most consistent level, them and OKC, all season long. It鈥檚 not by accident.鈥�
There were 27 games separating the Cavs and Heat in the final regular-season standings. But one win in Cleveland can change the whole shape of the series, at least in Miami鈥檚 eyes.
鈥淐leveland has been No. 1 in the East all year. They鈥檝e been having a historical season,鈥� Heat center Bam Adebayo said. 鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 figure out how to get one in Cleveland and worry about everything else later.鈥�
Little prep time
The Cavaliers did some advance work on Miami on Thursday and Friday, but didn't ramp things up until after the Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-114 in overtime on Friday night.
The compressed time schedule might rattle some coaches, but Kenny Atkinson saw it as mostly beneficial.
鈥淲hen you face a team like this with their experience, it鈥檚 kind of exciting. I do think with all that being said we have to focus on ourselves. I鈥檓 kind of glad our prep was focused on us and getting back on our routine,鈥� said Atkinson, who was named coach of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association on Saturday."
All hands on deck
Cleveland goes into the playoffs with all of its key pieces healthy. Mitchell missed the final four games of the regular season due to a sprained left ankle, but has been full go in practices this week.
Atkinson used a 10-player rotation during the regular season, which is something he wants to do during the playoffs. He said that mostly depends though on how the bench players are performing.
Mitchell vs. Mitchell
No. 45 for Cleveland is Donovan Mitchell. No. 45 for Miami is Davion Mitchell.
They鈥檒l be seeing some of each other in this series.
Donovan Mitchell is the Cavs鈥� quarterback and leader, one of the game鈥檚 best players and someone who surely got All-NBA consideration. But Davion Mitchell 鈥� an elite on-ball defender 鈥� willed the Heat past Atlanta with nine overtime points in Friday鈥檚 123-114 win. If play-in games counted toward playoff records (and they don鈥檛), those nine points would be a Heat postseason record for OT.
30-12 and 12-30
Against the other 15 teams in the postseason field, Cleveland went 30-12. That鈥檚 second-best of the playoff teams behind Oklahoma City鈥檚 33-10 mark.
Miami went 12-30, the worst record any playoff team had against the other 15 qualifiers this season.
Defending the 3
Cleveland shot 35.7% on 3-pointers against the Heat this season. Only the Clippers (33.7%) and Atlanta (31.2%) defended the 3-point line better against Cleveland.
But Miami forced only 9.7 turnovers on average in the three games against Cleveland.
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this story.
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AP NBA:
Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
