CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers finally got past the second round and face-planted in the Eastern Conference finals.They weren’t ready for the Knicks or the big stage.The lights were too bright again.Cleveland’s season ended with a resounding, demoralizing and embarrassing 130-93 loss on Monday night in Game 4 to the New York Knicks, who swept the series and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.Playing on tired and wobbly legs after being pushed to seven games by Toronto and Detroit in the earlier rounds, the Cavs, whose fate was sealed when they blew a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost Game 1 at Madison Square Garden, had no answer for anything the Knicks threw at them.They got out-played, out-shot, out-rebounded and out-coached.And now, the Cavs head into what will likely be a tumultuous summer that will trigger a major roster overhaul and perhaps other moves.
This wasn’t the plan. Cleveland made a blockbuster trade at the deadline in February, sending guard Darius Garland, part of its “Core Four” to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, who was supposed to take pressure off Mitchell.
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