By james art It’s no secret that Darius Garland struggled late last season. The Cleveland Cavaliers point guard even admitted that he lost the joy of playing basketball at one point during those tough times.
Fortunately, DG has found that joy and is off to a strong start to the 2024-25 season. The Wine and Gold won their third straight games to start the year Saturday night, and Garland played a key role in that.
DG finished with 23 points while shooting 81 percent (9-for-11) from the floor and 80 percent (4-for-5) from behind the arc. This is actually his best field goal percentage in a single game of Garland’s NBA career. His previous career best came on February 9, 2022 against the San Antonio Purs, where DG shot 80 percent (12-for-15) from the floor.
With how many scorers and overall offensive threats the Cavaliers have on their roster, they don’t need Garland to average 30 points per game to be successful. Cleveland needs its star point guard to have games just like this one. DG was effective, he knocked down the threes he was given and even showed his ability to play.
Through the first three games of the season, Garland is averaging 14.3 points, 5.7 assists and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three.
The Cavaliers have high expectations for themselves this season, as this is their third year together as a foundation. The only way they can achieve those goals is if Garland consistently plays this type of point guard.