But again, Harden isn’t the man anymore. And while he, Evan Mobley (1-of-5 down the stretch) and Jarrett Allen (1-of-1, but he missed two free throws and only grabbed one rebound) didn’t cover themselves in glory, this is Mitchell’s team.
And he was just completely overwhelmed and overshadowed by the Knicks, and more specifically, the star guard they got instead of him.
For much of Mitchell’s last couple seasons with the Utah Jazz, his desire to play for the Knicks was one of the worst kept secrets in the league. But Utah never granted his wish with a trade there. The Knicks signed Brunson. And on Tuesday, it looked abundantly clear that they made the right choice in building around him.
Mitchell disappeared (literally, on defense, a few times) in those last 13 minutes. He was 0-of-5 from the field, had no rebounds, made no assists, didn’t get a single steal or block and turned the ball over once. He played that entire dreadful stretch and was minus-32 in it.
With his team hemorrhaging a 22-point lead, Mitchell looked incapable or unwilling (on both ends) to even slow the momentum.
Superstar players are supposed to be able to sense those moments and either lean into them or hit back. Mitchell didn’t, and the Cavs surrendered a massive opportunity because of it.
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