Dec 12, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts after scoring against the Washington Wizards in the fourth quarter at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Donovan Mitchell not satisfied with win against Washington Wizards

Originally posted on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI
By Aidan Chacon | Last updated Dec 13, 2025 9:08 AM ET

A win will always be a win, but that doesn't mean wins don't have context attached to them.

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Washington Wizards Friday night in a close 130 to 126 victory. Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell played the role of Superman in this game after shooting the ball 31 times and dropping 48 points on a 3-19 Wizards team.

He received help from big man Evan Mobley as well. Mobley scored 23 points, collected 13 rebounds, and dished out six assists. The Cavaliers were missing center Jarrett Allen in the matchup, but Mitchell is still concerned about the performance of his team against an inferior opponent.

The NBA is filled with talent capable of beating any team at any time, but when a team has expectations like the Cavaliers, these performances become unacceptable.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Cavaliers have to be better

After winning just two of their last seven games and falling to 14-11 on the season, this win against a struggling Wizards team was needed for morale, momentum, and mindset. The team earned the win, but not until a Herculean fourth quarter effort from Mitchell. The guard scored half of his 48 total points in the fourth quarter alone.

Donovan Mitchell immediately spoke on the team's performance postgame and expressed his concern.

"Let's not get it twisted though, this is a good win but also not a good win. Let's understand that, yeah we pulled it off and figured it out but we can't be in this situation."Donovan Mitchell

The Cavaliers were returning from a five-day break, but so were the Wizards. Mitchell understands this wasn't the best way to win this game against Washington. Wizards guards Bub Carrington and C.J. McCollum both dropped 27 points on the Cleveland defense.

"You're playing a team that's 3 and whatever, and you're down 15, you can kind of tuck your tails and kind of give in, right? But we found a way...That can't happen. We can't be in that position, we have to figure it out."Donovan Mitchell

The Cavaliers entered the fourth quarter down by a whopping 15 points. It wasn't until some late buckets by Mitchell toward the finishing stages of the game that Cleveland secured the victory. The Cavaliers have NBA Finals aspirations and tight victories against lottery teams simply isn't good enough for Mitchell.

Mitchell is the league's best scorer in the fourth quarter. The guard is averaging 9.6 points per game in the fourth quarter.

This is the best quality to have as a scoring guard, but it can be too much to handle without the help of other stars come playoff time.

This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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