On May 15, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs continued. In the just-concluded Eastern Conference Focus Battle, the Celtics challenged the Cavaliers away, and after 48 minutes of fierce battle, the Celtics narrowly defeated the Cavaliers 109-102, rewriting the series score to 3-1, and holding the match point is only one step away from the Eastern Conference finals.
It is worth mentioning that before the game, the Cavaliers officially announced that the star Mitchell withdrew from the team's game plan due to injury, and G4 officially stopped playing. Although Garland played well in this game, with 30 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, the starting five scored all double-doubles except for Okoro. But the opponent is the Celtics, even if they let an All-Star inside Boshen, they still have double Tanhua + Holiday , especially in the case of double Tanhua combined to score 60 points, the Cavaliers can bite the score in Mitchell's absence, and it is not easy to lose only 7 points in the whole game.
However, compared with falling behind 1-3, what makes Cavaliers fans more desperate is that after the G4 game, Mitchell had a showdown with the whole league in the post-game interview, and his injury recovery is not optimistic, and it is still uncertain whether the upcoming G5 can come back, because a calf strain may involve the Achilles tendon, and a rash comeback will make the injury worse.
At the same time, Mitchell also admitted that he did not know how G3 was injured, he only remembered that in the fourth quarter of the game, his calf pain continued, and finally had to leave the game early 1:19 before the end.
In fact, for the Cavaliers, the first round defeat to the Magic was lucky enough, when the interior Allen retired injured, the team only relied on Mitchell to support himself, and he scored 50 points, 39 points, 33 points, 29 points, and 33 points in the past five series. This year's Mitchell can't help but be reminiscent of James in '18, when he also single-handedly led the Cavaliers to the Finals, and now the responsibility is handed over to the young Mitchell. It's just that the latter doesn't have as good physical fitness as James, and once it encounters a tricky injury, the only thing waiting for the Cavaliers is "slow death", and the series with a huge difference in strength has lost its suspense in advance.
It is worth mentioning that before the start of the playoffs, Mitchell had a showdown with the Cavaliers management, and the only condition for his contract extension was that the Cavaliers could reach the Finals. As far as the current situation is concerned, it is difficult for the Cavaliers to complete a 1-3 comeback against the wind and eliminate the Celtics, let alone reach the Finals. Therefore, for Mitchell and the Cavaliers, there is a high probability that the two sides will part ways this summer, the former needs to find a championship-level team, and among these league teams, the Lakers have always admired Mitchell very much, especially James also recognizes Mitchell's strength, if Pelinka can trade Mitchell with Reaves + Russell + Hachimura + first-round picks as chips, then the Lakers will form a super triumvirate combination of James + thick eyebrows + Mitchell, and the Lakers will win the championship just around the corner.