Cavaliers Announce Devastating Donovan Mitchell News While Facing Elimination

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paul White | Last updated May 13, 2025 9:33 AM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers and their fan base have been fighting off the droves of critics calling their season fraudulent.

They nearly set a franchise record with 64 regular season wins and steamrolled the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs which seemingly validated their year.

However, just two weeks after that series ended, the Cavs now find themselves down 3-1 to the Indiana Pacers in the semifinals.

While this series deficit has been aided by injuries, Cleveland has also played an equal part in their downfall.

All-Stars Darius Garland and Evan Mobley both missed game two against the Pacers which saw the Cavs blow a 20-point lead and succumb to a game-winning step back three from Tyrese Haliburton.

Garland and Mobley would return for game three where they blew Indiana out in a clear must win game.

But now, they are down 3-1 and it looks like they may be missing another key cog in the machine.

During game four in which the Cavs trailed by 41 points at halftime, Donovan Mitchell tweaked his ankle and sat out for the entire second half.

The hope was that it was precautionary because his team was down big, but the latest report on the injury says that is not the case.

Senior NBA insider Shams Charania appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday morning with some unfortunate news on Mitchell.

The ESPN affiliate announced that the former Utah Jazz guard reaggravated his injury and his status for a deciding game five is up in the air.

Shams Charania just reported on The Pat McAfee Show that Donovan Mitchell will be a game-time decision for Game 5 after reaggravating an ankle injury.
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) May 12, 2025

For a team who was supposed to be in contention for a championship, this is crushing news as they are now staring another early playoff exit down the barrel.

Mitchell was averaging 40 points per game over the first three matches against the Pacers and these scoring explosions were about the only chance Cleveland had of pulling off the improbable.

Even if Mitchell plays in the next game, there’s a chance he will be hobbled and ineffective, so this essentially marks the end of the Cavs’ once magical season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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