Why the Cavs keep choking away big games

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Why the Cavs keep choking away big games image

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

By Rafael Bandayrel

For years, the Cleveland Cavaliers have looked like a team built to contend for a championship.

And for years, they have repeatedly found ways to fall apart when the stakes get high.

Their latest collapse came in Game 1 of the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks. Cleveland looked firmly in control after building a 22-point lead, only to completely unravel late as New York stormed back, forced overtime, and escaped with a stunning win.

The scary part for Cavs fans is that this no longer feels surprising. This is becoming the team’s identity.

Just last December, Cleveland suffered another embarrassing meltdown against the Charlotte Hornets. The Cavaliers failed to score a single basket in overtime and eventually lost 119-111 in a game that should have never slipped away.

Then there was Christmas Day 2025.

The Cavs held a 17-point fourth-quarter lead against the Knicks before Jalen Brunson ripped their hearts out, leading New York to a 126-124 comeback victory. Once again, Cleveland tightened up the moment adversity hit.

At some point, repeated collapses stop being less about bad luck, and more about the team’s makeup.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, this “curse” has always loomed over the two stars who are expected to lead them through big moments—James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.

Fair or not, both players carry the “playoff choker” label because of years of postseason disasters.

Harden’s resume is impossible to ignore.

In 2015, Harden, as a member of the Houston Rockets, set an NBA playoff record with 12 turnovers in an elimination game against the Golden State Warriors during Western Conference Finals.

Two years later, his team was eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in a humiliating Game 6 performance, where “The Beard” finished with just 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting. What made the loss even worse was that San Antonio played without Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

Then came the infamous 2018 Western Conference Finals. The Rockets had a golden opportunity to dethrone the Kevin Durant-era Warriors in Game 7 at home, but Harden struggled through an inefficient shooting night as Houston missed 27 straight three-pointers in one of the biggest collapses in NBA history.

Mitchell’s playoff history is not much cleaner.

Last year against the Indiana Pacers, Mitchell exploded for 48 points in the East semifinals, yet Cleveland ended up blowing a seven-point lead in the final minute, losing 120-119.

Even before Cleveland, Mitchell already had painful postseason lowlights. In the 2020 NBA Bubble, his Utah Jazz blew a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets. In the closing seconds of Game 7, Mitchell committed a brutal turnover while driving into the lane, effectively ending Utah’s season.

The moment pressure rises, Cleveland begins to play scared. Suddenly, even big leads no longer feel safe.

And until Harden and Mitchell prove otherwise, every blown opportunity will only strengthen the reputation as two of the league’s biggest “chokers.”

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