Donovan Mitchell wasn’t satisfied with his 33-point outing against Suns: ‘I’m always gonna be critical of myself’

Mitchell wants more from himself after an inefficient showing against Phoenix.

Donovan Mitchell didn’t look happy as he leaned against a whiteboard in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room after he put up 33 points in his team’s thorough dismantling of the Phoenix Suns. Instead of focusing entirely on the positives to come from the win, Mitchell brought up that he “didn’t like the game” he had afterward on his own.

“No one really likes—my mom damn sure doesn’t like—when I talk about the negatives, but that’s who I am,” Mitchell said postgame.

On the surface, it seems odd for a no-doubt All-Star starter who’s leading a 36-6 team to not be happy after another demonstrative win, especially after his third 30-plus point game in his last four outings. But a closer look at the numbers shows why.

It took Mitchell 25 shots to get his 33 points on Monday. In the outing before against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he attempted 27 to get 36 points. To say this has been a year-long trend would be overstating things. It has, however, been Mitchell’s least efficient year with the Cavs so far.

This season, Mitchell has posted a 54.3 effective field goal percentage (62nd percentile) and is producing 1.16 points per shot attempt (66th percentile). For comparison, he wasn’t below the 70th percentile in either category for the last two seasons.

The drop in effectiveness is due to him not finishing at the rim as he has in the past. Mitchell is completing just 57% of his looks at the basket this season (32nd percentile). He’s only been that number or lower once in his career, during the 2020-21 season with the Utah Jazz. Last season, he finished 67% of his looks in the restricted area.

“I don’t know,” said head coach Kenny Atkinson when asked what has led to the decline at the rim from Mitchell.

“Finishing at the rim is a bit tricky, not statistic-wise, but for a player. We use the phrase read the rim. So it depends who’s at the rim. If Dikembe Mutombo is at the rim, you might not want to finish on him, right? You might want to, you know, probe, we talked to [Darius Garland], we talk to our guards a lot about this. So I don’t see anything from a physical standpoint or a technical standpoint [from Mitchell]. I’d have to do a deeper dive into, you know, is he challenging maybe guys he shouldn’t at the rim? Is he not reading that rim correctly?”

For Mitchell, the efficiency issues, especially against Phoenix, come down to decision-making.

“The shots I took weren’t the greatest tonight or the decisions I should make,” Mitchell said. “Not necessarily shots, but the decisions. Just being better. Y’all may look too deep into this, but I just am always, you know, a stickler for that. This is probably the first time I really say it as much as I am out loud, but that’s just how I’ve always been, especially now, you know, continuing to take that step and be that guy. I want to continue to better myself.”

Mitchell has altered his game this season. He’s been asked to take a step back for the betterment of his teammates, mainly Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. That has gone better than anyone could’ve hoped it would as both players and the offense in general have gone to another level. The adjustment that likely hasn’t helped his individual game.

Despite a drop in efficiency, Mitchell is still one of the best shooting guards in the league. A slightly less than ideal 33-point game in a blowout win is a rich person's problem. It also speaks to the standard that Mitchell holds himself to. That standard is what has allowed him to be the great player he has been throughout his career.

“I’m gonna push myself to be great,” Mitchell said. “You could look at this night and be like, okay, you know, yeah, I did. I had a pretty good game. No, like, you know, my goal is to be as efficient as possible, Take better shots, different things. I’m always gonna be critical of myself. But that’s just always been my way.”