By james art The Cleveland Cavaliers remain one of the few undefeated teams in the Association. On Monday night, they improved to 4-0 with a 110-104 win over the New York Knicks. The Cavs were led by Darius Garland in this game, who had a career night with 34 points.
Garland has faced his fair share of criticism over the past year. However, Donovan Mitchell came to his defense after the win and sent a strong message to the haters.
Via Cleveland.com:
“I just want everyone who’s been on this side to stay on this side when it comes to him. I don’t want there to be a change. I know who a lot of you are,” Mitchell said of the continued criticism Garland has received over the past year. “There are times in your career when you have years like that. Obviously, he was experiencing things personally. You have to grow up. You have to understand it. A lot of people said it can’t.
Garland was very efficient in the win, shooting 12-for-19 from the field and 5-for-8 from three-point range. He is averaging 19.2 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds so far this young campaign.
The Cavs guard found his name in trade rumors last season, but Cleveland remained committed to its backcourt duo of Garland and Mitchell, who are still looking to lead the franchise to the Promised Land.
Speeda has full faith in his teammate and expects a big season from him:
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“I’m happy for him because he went through a lot of BS last year,” Mitchell said of Garland. “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 missed six weeks in 2023-24 with a fractured jaw and posted a career low in efficiency. Still, it’s a new season, and the former Vanderbilt standout clearly has no shortage of motivation to prove the doubters wrong and continue to perform at a high level.