Cavs: Darius Garland has taken another step forward in recent stretch

I’m one of many Cleveland Cavaliers fans, at least I’d imagine many, that have been largely pleased with what Darius Garland has shown this season. By now, you know the deal: Garland was not himself last season.

That was because of Garland reportedly still having his prior meniscus injury, which cut his lone collegiate season at Vanderbilt just five games, in the back of his mind. Garland had an underwhelming rookie campaign, although he did show plenty of positive signs, particularly in the playmaking realm, in the 2020 portion of Year 1.

But in Year 2, Garland has looked to be the real deal, and with him looking to not have that prior knee injury in his mind/him seemingly not second guessing, it’s been quite the rebound.

At this point, Garland has looked to have mostly trusted himself, and hasn’t been hampered. He’s had 15.9 points and 5.9 assists per outing, and on the year, has hit 38.2 percent from three-point range.

In recent games, though, when he’s been in there, I’ve really been impressed with Garland’s approach for the most part. He’s seemingly progressed further in relation to his assertiveness even, but the way he’s opened up quality looks for his teammates has been on display a bunch, too.

Garland’s taken another step forward in his recent stretch for the Cavs.

Even while it’s not necessarily led to a pile up of wins for Cleveland, as we know, Garland has had 16.5 points per game, to go with averaging 6.5 assists. And though his overall shooting clip has been down a bit (41.7 percent), and his three-point hit rate has been 35.6 percent, it’s been a plus to see Garland look to be more assertive in settled offense and be quite the primary playmaking presence.

In that aforementioned stretch, he’s had 5.4 three-point attempts per game, which has been a fairly healthy clip, and from my perspective, that sort of thing is encouraging. Garland has looked to be dictating to defenses, which although that’s he’s been a productive perimeter threat and on-ball creator this season, by and large, has been good to see.

From a playmaking/passing feel standpoint, this sort of play exhibited how the game seems to really be slowing down for Garland.

Here, even after missing Friday’s loss versus the New Orleans Pelicans due to a left groin strain, and most of the second half in a frustrating L to the Indiana Pacers before the All-Star break, Garland used hesitation/savvy to open up a clean layup look for Isaac Okoro. He probably could’ve still taken a floater there, as he may have earlier in the season, but found the better play on the weak side.

And though it wasn’t as much the case on Sunday versus Atlanta, albeit Jarrett Allen struggled to cash in from the foul line, and then the Cavs had a nightmarish fourth quarter and lost by 18, mostly, Garland has proven to have great chemistry on lobs to Allen.

That’s been shown more in the past 7-8 or so games with them together in regards to that as well, thanks in large part to Garland being in such great control with his pace and timing.

Along with the dishes inside, while there have been some turnovers, sure, though Cleveland’s shooting hasn’t been stellar, Garland has initiated some very meaningful ball-swings lately, and is showing perhaps even better feel.

And if Cleveland can figure some things out here, perhaps that could lead to more off-ball looks for Collin Sexton maybe, to go with cutting/corner triple looks for Okoro, the recently reintegrated Larry Nance Jr. and for Dylan Windler, among others.

Lastly, as we hit on a bit earlier, Garland has seemed to be finding his way to his spots on-ball in the scoring sense more consistently of late, too, which has shown he’s taken another step forward to me.

The hesitations have often been on display, leading to better angles for himself to finish high off the glass and we’ve seen some step backs that have generated more space to get off shots. Some of him more so just getting downhill quick after handoffs has played out, too, though, which has provided energy.

And even with the percentage down a bit in the aforementioned stretch, him taking more triples than some earlier on has been a positive.

Moreover, in this recent stretch for Cleveland, Garland’s shown even more continued growth, and hopefully, in regards to the prior groin ailment, he can stay mostly good to go in the season’s second half.

The 21-year-old has proven to be even more assertive of late, but at the same time, has balanced getting others involved well, and in the process, appears to be a truly invaluable player for the Cavaliers.

And if Collin Sexton can get himself right here, as he’s been off in the first two outings post-All-Star, and if others can get more in-rhythm, Garland’s efforts can help perhaps get the Cavs back in the groove they were seemingly in in that pretty recent four-game win streak.

Albeit at the Miami Heat on Tuesday won’t be the simplest task, though.

But it’s clear that Garland has been a true standout.