By james art As the final buzzer sounded against the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland let out a roar of triumph with teammate Donovan Mitchell. The duo was likely celebrating the Cavs’ 110-104 loss to the Knicks to remain undefeated. However, in the grand scheme of this Cleveland team, the celebration between the other All-Star guards carried a little more weight. If not for Garland’s 34 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, on 12 of 19 shooting and 5 of 8 from 3-point range to go with three assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks, the duo might not I celebrated first.
“I’m happy for him because he went through a lot of BS last year,” Mitchell said. “You have to learn from it and you have to grow. Sometimes it’s going to be nasty and I think he felt it. It’s a sample of four games, but I have no doubt that will be him for us this season. That was him when he was called upon. That was him when he was an All-Star. I know the type of player he is. I know we can get along. You see it.
“These are probably the best four games we’ve ever put together. It will continue because we will continue to believe in what we can do. There’s a confidence in him this year.”
Garland’s main problem last season was a fractured jaw he suffered in a loss to the Boston Celtics, which sidelined him for more than six weeks. He said that just being able to eat food with a straw made him lose 12 kilograms. Garland had his worst season scoring efficiently since his rookie year in 2019-20. He shot 44.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range in 57 starts.
Cavs guard Darius Garland reminds everyone who he can be against the Knicks
Also, with the Cavs going 15-4 in the 19 games Garland missed with the jaw injury and the team once again struggling in the playoffs, there were questions about whether or not they would want to trade him. However, whatever offers Cleveland received, the Cavs turned them down. They believed in Garland and that he could once again tap into his abilities as an All-Star caliber guard. In his explosion against New York, Garland more than reaffirmed Cleveland’s faith in him.
That performance was Garland’s highest non-overtime performance since December 2023. It’s also his first career game with over 30 points, two or more steals and at least two blocks. just like that, Garland didn’t just tear up New York’s defense. The Cavs guard was also great defensively against the Knicks, especially when the game felt tight.
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“Everybody’s going to talk about his offensive game. I’ll talk about his two stops, two blocks at the end,” Atkinson said. “Those were great plays. They were trying to put (Mikal) bridges against him. He stood his ground. To get that offensive game, we all know he can do it. But to add the defense to that, just a 10 out of 10 game for him. He was phenomenal.”
The Cavs will look to improve their record to 5-0 on Wednesday when they welcome LeBron James back to Cleveland for a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. If Garland carries momentum from this game against the Lakers, the Cavs should be a wrecking crew on both ends of the floor.
“My teammates find me and I get open looks. The rim looks really big,” Garland said. “They trust me. They want me to be confident. That’s what I’ll do.”