The Cleveland Cavaliers are still undaunted despite a 2-o series deficit; Yankee Scores reports…

Donovan Mitchell believes they have what it takes to stretch the final to 7 as they have been in this situation before.

Cavs’ Deja Vu

“This isn’t our first time facing adversity,” Mitchell said following Cleveland’s 109-93 loss in Game 2 on Thursday night. “We’ve been through two Game 7s, so being down 2-0 is not the biggest challenge. It’s just something we just reached.”

Yet, the Cavs have a mountain to climb. Just two teams in NBA history have had a comeback from 2-0 deficits in the finals – Milwaukee Bucks in 2020-21 who won the NBA title, and LA Clippers in 2020-21 who lost in the conference finals.

Undaunted Still

“That’s just how our whole playoffs have been, our back against the wall,” Cavs center Jarett Allen said. “We like to keep things interesting. We like to keep everybody stressing about what the next game is going to be like. This is no different from what we’re doing now. We’ve got to take care of home court.”

Despite the double-digit loss in Game 2, the Cavs strongly believe they can bounce back particularly in game 3. Mitchell hailed his team for not allowing its crushing fourth-quarter collapse in Game 1 to linger into Game 2.

Spida sinks the stepback 3 🎯

Cavs lead by 3 after 1Q in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals! pic.twitter.com/pgJRO22jc2

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2026

Cavs are aware of their problem. They are encouraged by their offensive process but admitted their conversion on open shots was problematic.

Cleveland shot 9 of 26 (26%) from three on Thursday night, including 6 of 20 on open looks. Sam Merrill, who has shot 40 percent from three in the playoffs, was 0-for-7 from three-point range. Merrill never before had taken seven shots from three without hitting one.

Harden Cites Fatigue

“We just hit no shots,” Cavs guard James Harden said. “We had a lot of open shots. Make shots, hit a couple of those, win the ball game. Throughout the entire game, our process was right. I don’t know if it was tired legs, you know, whatever the case is going to be, but we had a lot of really good looks. It’s part of the game.”

PT. 1: Line it up & knock it down! #LetEmKnow https://t.co/dgrZHOLgAs pic.twitter.com/vsRfdohFBM

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 22, 2026

The Cavs played their sixteenth game of the playoffs on Thursday, following back-to-back seven-game series to advance to the second round. Since Game 5 against the Raptors on April 29, Cleveland has played every single day since then.

“We’re not tired,” Mitchell said. “We’re ready to go for Game 3.”

“We’re in the same place as last round,” Cavs forward Evan Mobley said. “So, the good thing is we’ve been here before. It’s nothing that we haven’t fought through and prevailed. So, we just got to win these next two at home and keep it moving.”