Darius Garland has started off well for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last season, Darius Garland had his share of struggles for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Garland was fairly underwhelming with 12.3 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting, and he had issues with getting his timing down as a passer it seemed in the first half of his season.
There were still plenty of flashes for Garland as a shooter and passer, though, and him having a better 5.1 assists per game in his last 26 appearances of Year 1 was a positive. That’s in comparison to his 3.9 per outing overall, somewhat.
In the shooting realm, Garland did hit 39.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, which was pretty solid, too. His floater game and handle were bright spots as well, at least I believe.
I do give Garland some of a pass in the general sense, also, with how he reportedly did not really feel like himself last season, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (subscription required). That was due to him still having his prior meniscus injury, which limited him to just five games at Vanderbilt in college, seemingly in the back of his mind, of which he alluded to, per Fedor.
That said, it appears that Garland is truly feeling like his true self again, and while there were still some hiccups in preseason, Garland has had a few nice outings thus far for Cleveland in Year 2.
It’s early for the Cavs, but Garland is showing positive signs.
It’s been two games, so let’s not completely overreact here. However, as KJG’s Robbie DiPaola predicted a few weeks back, Garland has gotten off to a good start, I would say, in 2020-21.
In the opener versus the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, Garland had 22 points on seven-of-13 shooting, which included him going four-of-eight from three-point range. He played at a nice pace, and he seemed just much more comfortable in getting himself going in-rhythm, which we didn’t see nearly enough last season.
Garland showed more quickness on the ball, and looked more assertive in pick-and-roll situations, and throughout, he was able to generate quality looks for teammates, such as Andre Drummond, Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman, for instance. He ended up having six assists in that first outing of this season, to just two turnovers.
In the second outing for him and the Cavs, Garland followed it up really well, too. Against the Detroit Pistons in a W on Saturday, Garland again I thought looked in-control often in set offense, and ended up having 21 points and a career-high 12 assists in a double-overtime game. He was nine-of-14 from the field, including three-of-three from three-point land.
Granted, defensively, while he was shown some growth off-ball, he has a ways to go on-ball, and I’m not saying he doesn’t.
Cleveland will likely end up staggering Garland and Sexton for stretches, anyhow. Albeit with Garland seemingly more confident, and comfortable at the other end as a scorer/playmaker, he’s going to continually get plenty of run.
The shiftiness, creativity with his handle, his approach as a passer and getting guys looks in their preferred spots and just pulling up with less hesitation all has played into that.
We’ll see as far as what’s to come looking onward for him, but it’s fair to say that Garland has shown positive signs so far for the Cavaliers. It’s again super early in this season, though, to reiterate.
Garland looks to be more than capable of a bounce back campaign, in any case, and is a huge reason why Cleveland has looked more in-sync more frequently thus far. His play initially in Year 2 has been so encouraging.