8 Takeaways from Cavs series-ending loss to Knicks: Where do the Cavaliers go from here?

CLEVELAND — The leap between being a great team and being a championship-caliber one is the hardest to make. This series shows that the Cleveland Cavaliers have a lot of work to do before they can say they’re on that level.

This was supposed to be a somewhat even matchup with the New York Knicks, but it wasn’t.

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The Knicks dominated every aspect of the series since the fourth quarter of Game 1. That continued as they completed their sweep with a 37-point victory in Game 4.

The ending to this season was always going to be messy, but this was much worse than anyone could’ve reasonably expected.

This series, and the playoffs as a whole, were a referendum on Donovan Mitchell.

This group was constructed around Mitchell. Each player was brought here because they either cover up a weakness or accent one of Mitchell’s skills. So when Mitchell isn’t playing at a star level, things can get sideways quickly.

It’s not impossible for elite playoff teams to gameplan around a 6’2” guard who can only score at a high level. We’ve seen this throughout his four postseason runs in Cleveland, and did so again here.

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Each team the Cavs ran into this postseason was able to take Mitchell out of his comfort zone.

The Toronto Raptors were physical at the point of attack and able to switch every on-ball screen. The Detroit Pistons put one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, Ausar Thompson, on Mitchell, making it difficult for him to get to his spots. And then the Knicks just crowded the paint, making it difficult to get anything going inside.

This all added up to Mitchell accumulating his lowest point total and the least efficiency in his last three postseason runs.

Throughout the playoffs, the Cavs were better with Mitchell off the court than they were with him on. They lost the minutes he’s played in 12 of the 18 postseason games. This includes every matchup against the Knicks.

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Mitchell had good moments — including an impressive Game 7 in Detroit — but they made it to this point despite his play on the court, not because of it. That’s a problem.

Game 4 showed this again.