The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season has reached an uncomfortable crossroads. Sunday’s 119-111 overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets didn’t create the problem. It confirmed it, as the team that raced to the best record in the Eastern Conference last season fell to the eighth seed at 15-12.

The fans’ frustration has not gone unnoticed. In the final moments, some of the Cleveland fans who stayed around in Rocket Arena until the bitter end booed the home team. When asked about the moment, star Donovan Mitchell acknowledged the team’s struggles and sympathized with them.

“I was a fan too, and I would boo us too,” Mitchell told reporters. “We’re not playing well. The city deserves better than what we’re giving them.”

Donovan on the boos:

“Yeah. I was a fan once, I’d boo us too — we’re not playing well. The city deserves better than what we’ve been giving and we gotta go out there and figure it out.” pic.twitter.com/adnwOjjxY6

— RealCavsFans.com (@realcavsfans) December 15, 2025

Backcourt mate Darius Garland acknowledged the team’s play but asked fans to be more supportive.

“I know there’s not much to celebrate right now, but we need the fans to cheer us on to keep going,” he said.

After last season’s 64-18 campaign ended with an upset defeat to the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs, Cleveland has spent much of this season chasing itself. Slow starts, uneven effort and late-game desperation have become routine, even against teams near the bottom of the standings. Falling behind by 17 points against the 8-18 Hornets — and in the game before against the 4-20 Washington Wizards — underscored the Cavs’ troubling trend of putting themselves in holes they can’t always escape.

For weeks, the formula has been fragile: Coast early, surge late, lean on Mitchell to rescue the night. He did just that in scoring 46 points Friday against Washington. But When Mitchell struggled Sunday — 17 points on 6-of-24 shooting — the illusion shattered. Cleveland went scoreless in overtime, the first NBA team to do so since 2015, and absorbed another loss that felt heavier than the record shows.

“We competed, we fought, but I played poorly on both ends of the floor. And that’s what happens,” Mitchell said afterward.

Still, he pointed to a broader issue plaguing the group.

“We got to finish possessions. It hurts when you do something really well, and then the ball goes between your legs, so they’re the first to the floor… It’s just, we can’t go 75 percent or 98 percent, we got to be the full 100.”

The adversity has been real. Injuries to Evan Mobley and Max Strus have forced constant lineup changes, while Garland continues to labor through a right toe injury that initially surfaced during last season’s playoff run.

“It’s a lot, it’s a lot, and some of it, the majority of it is on us, but some of it is injuries,” Mitchell said. “For us, we are choosing, as we should, not to use the injuries as an excuse because it’s not,” Mitchell said.

With nearly 30 games gone, the Cavaliers are running out of time to get their groove back. Identity usually arrives by Christmas. For Cleveland, it’s still missing — and the cost of finding it late may be far greater than one ugly loss against Charlotte.