By james art After a disappointing 2023/24 season in which he dealt with a serious jaw injury and the death of his grandmother, cavaliers guard Darius Garland entered this fall with the intention of having a rebuilding year. So far so good, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor writes in a subscriber-only story.
The sample size is small, but through four games (all Cavaliers wins), Garland has been red hot, averaging 19.3 points per game on .547/.500/1.000 shooting. Monday’s performance in New York was his best game so far this season, as he scored 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting in a six-point win over the Knicks. He also performed well defensively, with two steals and two blocked shots.
As Fedor tells it, there was a lot of speculation during the spring and summer that the Cavaliers might try to trade Garland to balance the roster, but Donovan Mitchell always believed in his teammate in the backfield and was confident in Garland’s ability to regain All-Star form this season.
“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.”
Here’s more from the Central Center:
- New head coach Kenny Atkinson making a positive early impact on 4-0 cavaliersaccording to Stefan Bondi of The New York Post. “You feel (Atkinson’s presence), you see it in the band,” Mitchell said. “Just the movement of the offense. You could say it’s already different.” Garland agreed, adding that Atkinson is “really good for us” and gives the Cavs’ stars “a lot of freedom” offensively.
- Returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for the last month-plus of the 2023/24 regular season and the entire postseason, Pacers wing Benedict Mathurin has seen his playing time decrease in each game since logging 28 minutes in the team’s opener last Wednesday. As Alex Golden of Setting the Pace tweeted, head coach Rick Carlyle cited rebounding and defense as reasons why Maturin played just 14 minutes in Monday’s loss at Orlando, adding during an appearance on 107.5 FM in Indiana that there are only so many minutes on the bench. “(Ben) Shepherd ended up getting more of the minutes than Mathurin and (Jaras) Walker (on Monday),” Carlisle said. “It’s just part of this whole thing. Maturin is obviously a very important man and he scored the ball well in the first two games, but it’s not just about scoring goals.”
- Veterans Center Nikola Vucevic has had a strong start this season for Bullsaveraged 20.8 ppg on .517/.424/.909 shooting through four outings. If Vucevic’s strong play continues, it could boost his value ahead of February’s trade deadline, but he continues to insist he’s not thinking about being dealt, according to Joe Cauley of The Chicago Sun-Times . “I see and hear the rumours. People in my life talk to me about it, but I don’t get into it too much.” Vucevic said. “I guess if something happens or it gets more serious, they’ll come to me, they’ll talk to me, but I’m not thinking about that at this point.”