The Indiana Pacers ran the Cleveland Cavaliers off of the floor in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, capturing the series in five games and winning all three contests in Rocket Arena.
Cleveland dealt with some injury issues throughout the series, as several key players either missed games, played injured or both. That said, the Pacers were clearly the better team in this particular five-game sample size.
Given that Cleveland entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the East, it's impossible to call the end of the team's 64-win season anything other than a disappointment -- which many analysts did, and then some, on Tuesday night, May 13.
Among those who went the hardest at Mitchell and the Cavaliers was Kendrick Perkins of ESPN.
"A Donovan Mitchell led team has never been to a Conference Finals," Perkins wrote on X following Cleveland's elimination from the postseason. "I don’t care how you slice it, but this season for the Cavs is a complete failure."
Mitchell took umbrage, not with Perkins specifically, but with the general idea that Cleveland doesn't have what it takes to win at the NBA's highest level as currently constructed.
"I believe in everyone in that locker room," Mitchell said during his postgame press conference, per Sam Amico of Hoops Wire. "Ya’ll gonna write us off, man. We’ll be back."
The Cavaliers also earned a playoff berth last season, entering the postseason as the No. 4 seed. They bested the Orlando Magic in the first round in seven games before falling to the Boston Celtics 4-1 in Round 2.