Donovan Mitchell Receiving Major Criticism For Cavs' Collapse vs. Knicks

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn't just lose Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, they legitimately collapsed against the New York Knicks.

Although their offense was flat for the majority of regulation, the Knicks managed to outscore the Cavaliers 44-11 over the final 12:40 of the game. Cleveland had no answer for Jalen Brunson, who had 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. He truly put the Knicks on his back when the game mattered most.

Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, on the other hand, only made one basket in the final 17 minutes of the game. Suffice to say, he didn't do enough for Cleveland in crunch time.

With that being said, NBA fans ripped Mitchell for his late-game performance Tuesday night.

"Donovan Mitchell has 29 points but this overtime is on him man. Unless you get double teamed the ball should be in your hands every single possession," one fan said. "What are you doing man?"

"Shame on Donovan Mitchell for not taking control of HIS team…" a second fan wrote.

"Donovan Mitchell was not aggressive that 4th quarter at all smh," a third fan said.

"James Harden with a horrible game. Atrocious 4th from the entire Cavaliers team to blow a 20+ point lead," another person said. "But Donovan Mitchell with a scoreless 4th quarter is the biggest story to me. Could not stop the momentum for Cleveland. That's what your best player needs to do."

Is this series already over?

A loss in Game 1 obviously doesn't end the series for Cleveland, but this is heartbreaking loss for Kenny Atkinson's squad. They should have control of the Eastern Conference Finals, and yet, they suffered a historic collapse.

It'll be interesting to see how James Harden and Donovan Mitchell respond when the series resumes on Thursday night.

Game 2 between the Cavaliers and Knicks will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 11:15 PM.