INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Donovan Mitchell hasn’t allowed himself to enjoy leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
As the Cavaliers continued to surpass expectations and wrapped up the regular season with the NBA’s second-best record, the painful memories of what happened the last time he was on a team with a top seed provided more fuel for his leadership.
Mitchell is in a conference semifinal for the fourth time in his eight-year career. His biggest disappointment came in the 2021 playoffs, when the Utah Jazz were the top seed in the Western Conference but were eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers.
As the Cavaliers prepare to open the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers, Mitchell is ready for another shot at getting to a conference final — and possibly beyond — for the first time.
“I’m fortunate enough to have another crack at it,” he said. “It’s not just myself, but for the group, just continuing to want to take that next step. That’s why we play this game. We don’t play to have a 64-win season and be happy. We play to win the championship. That’s the goal, and that’s really what is fueling me.”
Utah won the first two games of that series but lost the next four to a Clippers squad that didn’t have Kawhi Leonard for the final two games after he suffered a knee injury.
Mitchell certainly did his part in that series, averaging 34.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.0 rebounds. His step-back 3-pointer early in the third quarter in Game 6 gave the Jazz a 24-point lead, only to see the Clippers rally back for a 131-119 victory. It was the largest comeback victory — or in the Jazz’s case, a collapse — by a team in a series-clinching game over the last 25 seasons
Despite playing on an injured ankle, Mitchell nearly had a triple-double in that game with 39 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, an assistant with the Clippers in 2021, knows how much that series molded Mitchell.
"The fact that he’s been through his experiences, being the No. 1 seed, it’s huge. I feel more comfortable because this guy’s been through it. It’s happened to him before. He knows what a series looks like. He knows when the tactics change,” Atkinson said. “Because he has that experience, he’s going to be more aggressive in communicating with me and his teammates.”
Mitchell has already been aggressive during the regular season, making sure the Cavaliers didn’t rest on their laurels when they started the season 15-0, reached 60 wins for the third time in franchise history — and first without LeBron James — or got the top seed in the East for the first time in eight years.
When asked for the biggest difference between the Jazz squad four years ago and the Cavs this year, Mitchell sees a bigger level of desperation instead of contentment.
“It’s not just what I’ve been preaching, I think guys feel it — Evan (Mobley), DG (Darius Garland), JA (Jarrett Allen), Ty (Jerome), Dre (De’Andre Hunter), Max (Struss) — we all know there’s a level of desperation among this group,” Mitchell said. “Not every series is going to be a sweep. We understand that. Maybe you get hit in the mouth, but continue to use that as fuel and work to be the best.”
Mitchell’s message to his teammates going into the Indiana series will be the same as before the Cavaliers took on Miami and swept them in four games — take care of home court and remain consistent in their approach.
He goes into the Indiana series averaging 27.8 points in the playoffs, the seventh-highest scoring average by a player with at least 50 postseason games. The All-Star guard has scored at least 30 points in seven consecutive series openers, tied with Michael Jordan for the most in league history.
Indiana won three of the four regular-season meetings. The last two came during the final week when Mitchell was sitting out due to an injured ankle and after Cleveland wrapped up the top seed.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle knows Mitchell can not only carry a team to a win in the fourth quarter, he can also determine a series.
“Just go look at Game 2 of the Miami series,” Carlisle said. “Miami was playing a great game; they were hanging in, I think they had a lead, and Mitchell just elevated his game, their game, and he gets 17 in the fourth quarter, and from then on, they completely dominated the series."
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) reacts in the first half half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) gestures in the second half in Game 2 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Miami Heat, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
