Donovan Mitchell Spotted on Cavs’ Bench after NBA Playoff Exit in Postgame Photo

After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season came to a disappointing end with Tuesday’s Game 5 loss to the Indiana Pacers, star guard Donovan Mitchell wasn’t ready to go home just yet.

Per Sam Amico of Hoops Wire, Mitchell came back out of the locker room after the game to sit on the bench one last time before calling it a night:

Mitchell did his best to keep the Cavs’ season alive. He played through an ankle injury and scored a game-high 35 points while adding nine rebounds and four steals in Tuesday’s game. Unfortunately, Cleveland suffered a 114-105 loss on its home floor as Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year.

This marks the second straight year that the Cavs have been eliminated from the playoffs in the conference semifinals, but there’s a bit more disappointment this time around. Cleveland was the No. 1 seed in the East after going 64-18 in the regular season, the team’s first 60-win season since LeBron James’ 2009-10 MVP campaign. There was also some hardware handed out this season, as Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson was named Coach of the Year and star forward Evan Mobley was named Defensive Player of the Year.

Still, it wasn’t enough to make a run to the NBA Finals, and Mitchell has yet to play in the conference finals in his otherwise stellar career.

“I love playing in that f–king arena,” Mitchell said in his emotional postgame press conference. “That energy, that crowd. We were 0-3 at home, let the city down. This place is special. This place is really special and we didn’t get it done.”

Mitchell and the Cavs will try to regroup this offseason as they prepare to make another run at the NBA championship in 2025-26.