Donovan Mitchell insisted the Cleveland Cavaliers are used to facing adversity after going 2-0 down in their Eastern Conference Finals series with the New York Knicks. 

Mitchell scored 26 points, and James Harden also had 18 for the Cavaliers, but that was not enough as the Knicks came out on top with a 109-93 victory to take control. 

But it is not the first time Cleveland have found themselves behind this postseason. Against the Detroit Pistons in the East semi-finals, they were also two games down, but managed to rally back and win the series 4-3.

Only the 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks, who went on to win the NBA title, and the Los Angeles Clippers from the same season, have come back from multiple 2-0 series deficits in the same postseason. 

However, Mitchell remained confident of Cleveland's chances of a turnaround, saying: "This isn't our first time facing adversity. 

"We've been through two Game 7s, so being down 2-0 is not the biggest challenge. It's just something we just reached."

The result also saw the Cavaliers held under 100 points for the fourth time this postseason, something that happened only four times during the regular season.

Final. @Redfin | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/mlPckYa40R

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 22, 2026

After enduring two seven-game series, against Detroit and the Toronto Raptors, during the first two rounds, Cleveland have already played 16 games in the postseason. 

Since April 29, which was Game 5 of the first round against Toronto, the Cavaliers have played a game every other day, though Mitchell said fatigue was no excuse. 

"We're not tired," Mitchell said. "We're ready to go for Game 3."

That sentiment was echoed by Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, who said that his team were keeping the postseason interesting by going 2-0 down once again. 

"That's just how our whole playoffs have been, our back against the wall," Allen added. "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."

But James Harden cited room for improvement. Cleveland shot nine for 26 (26%) from beyond the arc Thursday, including 6 for 20 on open looks. 

Sam Merrill, who is shooting 40% from 3 in the playoffs, went 0-for-7 from 3. He had never attempted more than five 3s in any game, regular season or playoffs, without making at least one.

"We just hit no shots," Harden conceded. "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."