'We F--king Blew It,' Donovan Mitchell Gets Real About Cavs' Collapse vs. Knicks in ECF Game 1 Loss

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell had a simple but effective message for his team after it blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter of Tuesday's 115-104 overtime loss to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

"I said it in the locker room, just that. We lost, we f---ing blew it," he told reporters. "Alright, let's run for Game 2. Simple as that."

The focus on turning the page to Game 2 is a welcome one for the Cavaliers because Tuesday's collapse will be much more detrimental if they let it linger.

They still have an opportunity to win Thursday's contest on the road to steal home-court advantage in the series and are more than capable of doing so if they play like they did in the first three quarters of Game 1.

Yet all the momentum is on New York's side.

Jalen Brunson took over in crunch time as the Knicks overcame the 22-point deficit in the final eight minutes to force overtime. His shot in the lane tied the game in the final 20 seconds after Mikal Bridges and Landry Shamet each hit critical three-pointers after Cleveland started to double team the guard.

By the time overtime arrived, it was clear the Knicks were going to ride their momentum and the raucous Madison Square Garden crowd to a win.

Cavaliers-Knicks Highlights

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Mitchell was a bright spot for the Cavaliers, at least statistically, and finished with 29 points, six steals, five rebounds and three assists on 12-of-23 shooting from the field. However, he was left watching James Harden far too many times down the stretch, which contributed to the visitors' collapse.

Harden was an ugly 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-8 from deep with six turnovers. He was also a problem on the defensive end, as the Knicks kept finding ways to get him matched up with Brunson in the most important moments.

And Brunson had no trouble scoring on him.

Whether the Cavaliers can quickly put the collapse behind them will go a long way toward determining the outcome of Game 2, and Mitchell was already looking ahead after the loss.