Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers star guard, recently suffered a significant setback due to an ankle injury during the 2025 NBA playoffs. In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers, Mitchell injured his left ankle during halftime warmups, which forced him to miss the entire second half of that game and raised doubts about his availability for Game 5
. The injury was confirmed as a sprained ankle after an MRI
. Despite his injury, Mitchell started in the must-win Game 5 but the Cavaliers were upset by the Pacers, losing the series 4-1
. Mitchell expressed deep disappointment over the Cavaliers' early playoff exit, stating that the team let the city down after a strong regular season where they won 64 games and were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference
. He also made comments suggesting frustration with the lack of respect his team received following the upset loss, indicating a desire for pointed criticism to address the reasons behind the defeat rather than simply lamenting it
. Overall, Donovan Mitchell's recent situation involves dealing with an ankle injury that impacted his playoff performance and contributed to the Cavaliers' surprising early elimination from the playoffs by the Pacers
