How the James Harden move renewed the Cavaliers' faith - ESPN

DONOVAN MITCHELL TOOK one glance at a postgame stat sheet and looked around the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room.

«Aye, James,» he called out for his new co-star.

It was Feb. 24, moments after the Cavs had pulled off one of their best wins of the season, a 109-94 victory against the New York Knicks in a clash of the two teams who began the season as the favorites in the Eastern Conference.

Cleveland had dropped its first two meetings with New York this season in a pair of high-profile games — opening night and Christmas Day — despite Mitchell scoring more than 30 points and shooting an identical 12-of-25 from the field in each.

On this night, the first meeting between the two squads since Cleveland revamped its roster at the deadline, Mitchell had shot 5-for-18 and finished with 23 points… and the Cavs won.

As Mitchell looked at the rundown, there was another number that caught his eye: 14. The number of free throws he had shot in the game.

«I'll take your free throws since you can't get any,» Mitchell yelled to Harden across the locker room. «I never get 14 of them.»

Harden had finished the game with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting, but he failed to get to the free throw line. It's only the third game in the past two seasons that Harden finished without attempting a free throw.

«S--- one of us might as well,» Harden said, shaking his head. «As long as one of us getting it.»

The start of this connection between Cleveland's backcourt duo could not have gone any smoother — or come at a more critical time.

The Cavs won six of their first seven games after the trade deadline, when they sent 26-year-old former All-Star Darius Garland to the LA Clippers in exchange for the 36-year-old Harden. It was the kind of all-in move