Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was asked about the team’s cohesiveness as a whole when guys are in and out of the lineup after his stellar night vs. the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday (43 points/6 rebounds/5 assists/4 steals/17-27 FG/4-8 3-PT/5-5 FT during a 116-102 home win).
(via Cleveland Cavaliers):
“That’s the ultimate sign of a team we want to be. You look at the different teams around the league who have been to the Finals or have been far in the playoffs, Milwaukee, Golden State, Boston, Phoenix, you can keep going down the line, there’s gonna be guys in and out. And you look at them being able to have guys come in and out of the lineup and can still continue to keep that level of play. That’s what we’re ultimately trying to get to. It’s always great to have our whole team there, but that’s not always gonna be the case, and understanding that everybody’s gonna have to step up in their moment and what they do. We’re building that. We’re learning and we’re building that.
“It’s been great at times, and there’s been times where we lost 5 in a row, lost games we shouldn’t have. But that’s all part of the building process and learning, and getting used to each other and getting used to that. Ultimately, it just builds with everybody. And the thing about this group is we have guys that even if they don’t play, like Raul Neto for example only played a minute and 42 seconds tonight, but we all know for a fact if you gave him a 25, 30 minute stint, he knows exactly where to be, how to run an offense. So that’s the best part about this group is that we know where to be, and we’re continuing to build that as a group.”
