Donovan Mitchell hopes Cavaliers get back on track against Heat

The Cleveland Cavaliers have managed to survive in the Eastern Conference despite the absence of Donovan Mitchell for more than half of the past two weeks.

Mitchell has played in just two of Cleveland’s last seven games, and the Cavaliers are hoping their superstar guard will start picking up form on Tuesday night when the Miami Heat are in town.

Cleveland are currently No. 5 in the East after losing four of their last seven games, much to Mitchell’s absence. In his 105-103 loss to New York last Tuesday against the Knicks, a groin injury forced Mitchell to miss his three games before playing his 38 minutes.

The injury then worsened again, and he missed two more games, but returned on Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Mitchell finished just 20 minutes against the Clippers, had three assists and scored 11 points.

The Cavaliers have faced adversity not seen earlier in the season, going 8-1, but Mitchell said the team needs to be patient and realize they’re in the middle of a marathon, not a sprint. said.

“There are some games where you’re like, ‘I don’t care if I have to win this game, I don’t care if I have to lose this game, whatever the big picture,’ and you have those moments. But I think it’s all part of growing up,” Mitchell said. “Most of us haven’t gone where we want to go.

“I think understanding that aspect is part of being patient with it and understanding that the playoffs don’t always start in April or May. It starts at night like

The Heat may have a similar mentality for Tuesday’s game after losing 122-117 to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday.

Miami led 81-72 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter, but went into the final period by five points and couldn’t get over the hump in the final 12 minutes. Jimmy Butler scored 28 points and he had 7 rebounds on 11 of his 14 shots, while Tyler His Hero and Bam Adebayo scored 24 and 17 points respectively.

“It started in the first half. I didn’t think, like I said, enough aggression,[defense]power to allow them to be comfortable,” Hero said. Said. “By the fourth quarter, they were confident, comfortable and in their place.”

It was a rare defensive misstep for the Heat, who allowed the league’s second-lowest points per game (108.4) on Tuesday. Cleveland is the only team that gives less points to the opposing team at 106.9 per game.

The last time the two teams met was on November 20th. Cleveland he won 113-87. The Heat were without Butler and Hero, but Miami shot just 38.8 percent from the field and he shot 19.4 percent from 3-pointers.

–Field level media