Gary Washburn joins Michael Holley on Sports Sunday to preview the Celtics-Cavs Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup. Do Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs pose a real threat to the Celtics?
Donovan Mitchell isn't interested in seeing history repeat itself.
As point guard Darius Garland stepped to the line to shoot free throws in the final seconds of the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round Game 7 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the raucous crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse busted out a loud "We want Boston!" chant, with the Celtics locked in as the Cavs' second-round playoff opponent.
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Mitchell seemed irritated by the chant in the moment, even waving at the crowd to stop. After the game, the All-Star guard confirmed he wasn't thrilled the crowd was looking ahead to Round 2 with just under a minute still on the clock.
"I was a little upset they chanted, ‘We want Boston,’ then DG (Darius Garland) misses the free throw,” Mitchell said. “But it is what it is. It’s a lot of fun. And going into a hostile environment, we’re going to need to pull together, stick together like we have been."
Mitchell may or may not be aware of what happened to the Miami Heat in Round 1; after Heat fans chanted "We want Boston!" in the closing seconds of Miami's play-in tournament win over the Chicago Bulls, Celtics wing Oshae Brissett responded with a warning shot of sorts on his video blog.
"Keep chanting, 'We want (the) Celtics.' We will continue this conversation after the first round," Brissett said.
The Celtics then backed up Brissett's talk, dismantling the Heat in a five-game series victory in which they led by at least 27 points in each of their four wins.
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Many expect the Cavs to suffer a similar fate against the No. 1 seed Celtics, but it sounds like Mitchell is embracing the underdog role ahead of Tuesday's Game 1.
"For us coming into Boston, I'm pretty sure everybody thinks they're going to come in and kick our ass," Mitchell said. "So for us to continue to stay levelheaded throughout and not listen to y'all (the media) and just be who we are, that's the biggest thing."
The Cavs are a more talented team than injury-riddled Miami, so perhaps we'll see a closer series than Celtics-Heat. But the expectation is still that Boston will make Cleveland fans regret their words.
NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Game 1 begins Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET with Celtics Pregame Live.
