The Cleveland Cavaliers got back in the win column on Monday night with a 139-132 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. It snapped a three-game losing streak and showed what this group is capable of, which was needed. However, one victory over a team they should beat, especially at home, doesn’t mean everything is fixed. Despite the refreshing outcome, Donovan Mitchell made sure to emphasize that the Cavs must have the same approach nightly.

“We didn’t crack any code,” Mitchell said in Monday’s postgame interview. “This isn’t a victory lap because we won [Monday]. We did it once. Now, we’ve got to do it on a consistent basis. We may not make shots [Tuesday]. We may miss. We may miss every free throw. We may not shoot 55%, but who are we going to be continuously through that? We may make every shot [Tuesday]. Are we going to continue to keep the lead and continue to keep the foot on the throat?

“That’s the ultimate challenge, not just when things are going good. Just be great, like, continue to be that team that we want to be. And [Monday] was a good step in the right direction.”

His Cavs All-Star backcourt partner, Darius Garland, believes it’ll take the same confidence and intensity from the Charlotte win to accomplish that.

“This was a great start just to get us going since we have been on a little stretch that we don’t like to be on,” Garland said. “So, it’s really good to see everybody happy in the locker room. No boos in the crowd tonight and a lot more cheers. Trying to get back to Cavaliers basketball.”

Though he was in foul trouble for most of the second half, Mitchell still found a way to score 30 points, dish out five assists, and haul in four rebounds in 29 minutes of action. The Cavs didn’t need him to be a superhero for a change, as De’Andre Hunter got back to his scoring ways as a sixth man and Garland commandeered an offense that shot 55.2% from the field, including 54.5% from deep, and nailed all of its 19 free throws at the line.

“Win or loss [Monday], I would have been happy just because our process was… we were doing a lot of things well,” Mitchell said, mentioning multiple efforts and communication. “We were flying around, continuously trying to find ways to be better defensively. Even when they were making shots, we didn’t let it affect our spirit, our mood. We continued to go out there and play good basketball, but it always helps when you shoot 55 [percent] from three and don’t miss a free throw.”

“It’s really good to see the ball go through the rim,” Garland added. “Just grows a lot of confidence for all of us to shoot the ball. Dean [Wade] made a couple tonight. TB [Thomas Bryant] made a couple in the corner that was really big for us. So, just trying to encourage getting to the paint and then spraying off for threes. Just costs the defense a lot, then everybody’s playing in closeouts. So when we make shots, you already know how it is. It’s a real Cavalanche, I guess that’s what they call it. So it was good to see the ball go through the hoop.”

Cavaliers rewarded for the little things on Monday

Doing the right things doesn’t always lead to good results, but they certainly were rewarded on Monday.

“I do think Sam [Merrill] has a lot to do with that, our offensive production,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “That’s why you score 140 points, [if you] shoot the ball like that. We needed it. Hopefully, this will get us going, right? You have a breakout game like this, a little more confidence, ball starts going in a little more. Hopefully, this game propels us, helps us confidence-wise.”

Mitchell and Atkinson can relate to going through rough patches. The two have had similar experiences in Utah and Golden State, and coming out on the other side requires a strong resilience now in Cleveland. Though it has been anything but easy to this point, Mitchell’s message has been to “stick with it.”

“If you tuck your tails and hang your head, that’s not going to get you anything, right? So just continue to be that,” Mitchell said. “And we’re going to continue to fight. We’ve just got to continue to stack it. This isn’t something where we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re back.’ No, we’ve gotta do it again [Tuesday] and after that on Christmas, then we’ve got a big stretch coming up. So continuing to be who we are and continue to be positive.

“There’s certain locker rooms that [it] would definitely be tougher. But when you come in here on a daily basis, you’ve got Jaylon Tyson making jokes at 9 a.m. Like, it’s just a bond that we have. It makes this not dreadful. There’s going to be stretches where we continue to play well. There’s going to be a stretch where we go through the mud again. That’s the biggest thing, and just continuing to have each other’s back and continue to do the little things for each other.”