Cavs: There will be rough stretches, but Darius Garland must keep firing

Many seem to be very high on Darius Garland, who just began his third season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s understandable as to why that is, as Garland had a bounce-back season in Year 2 in 2020-21, and took a noticeable step forward with 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest.

The on and off-ball scoring abilities from him were seen often throughout last season, and his playmaking feel, vision to throw players open, and pick-and-roll prowess all played into him having a nice rebound from a fairly underwhelming Year 1. Furthermore, a poll which involved 15 NBA executives reportedly had Garland as one of a few key breakout candidates to watch this season.

That said, at times last season, and a bit in preseason, there have still been times when Garland looks unsure of himself still, or to an extent, can be passive.

Now, that was not nearly as prevalent last season for him. That was seemingly largely because of him not having his prior meniscus injury that cut short his lone collegiate season at Vanderbilt, which was reportedly the case in Year 1, in the back of his mind.

Nonetheless, it’s still something that we need to see Garland shake off this season and/or looking onward. I firmly believe he will, though.

Of course, there will be some growing pains still for him as a shooter/crucial scoring presence for the Cavaliers, which still will be needed from him, even as a primary playmaker.

Even still, all things considered, while there will be tough stretches for him at times, it’s clear that Garland must keep firing and maintain aggression, particularly from three-point land. That did help Cleveland get back into things on Wednesday, albeit ultimately in a 132-121 loss at the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2021-22 season opener.

Cavs: There will be rough stretches at times, but Garland must keep firing.

It’s apparent that as compared to last year, the Cavaliers need to attempt more three-point shots this season, and that includes Garland and Collin Sexton. They’re two of the Cavs’ best shooters, and seemingly still Cleveland’s top scoring options, with perhaps Lauri Markkanen a close third.

Either way, it was reportedly a point of emphasis by Cleveland to attempt more threes, and especially for Garland and Sexton to do so. And it seems that, based on preseason and from Wednesday’s game, that both will feasibly implement that, as will the team overall.

That’s with Markkanen factoring into things, and I’d hope, provided they can be healthy, Kevin Love and Dylan Windler will. To a lesser extent, Cedi Osman will, too, though he can have his good days, as he did at the Grizz, going 3-of-3 from three, even with the ups and downs.

Circling back to the Garland aspect here, he was off for most of three quarters in that Memphis loss that got away from the Cavaliers in the last two minutes, however, he did have three big triples in the fourth quarter.

That played a significant part in Cleveland getting back into things, even while Morant, De’Anthony Melton and Memphis eventually closed it out. Others did help the Cavs get back into it too, though, which was a plus, as was Garland coming back for most of the game after injuring his ankle early on. He’s questionable for Friday’s game against Charlotte, regarding the ankle injury, as an aside, but he did reportedly participate in shootaround and it didn’t seem too serious; we’ll see if he’s a go, anyway.

In terms of the others from last game chipping in, Collin Sexton was a bit up-and-down, but did 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, Jarrett Allen had a heck of a game of course with 25 points on 11-of-11 shooting, and Evan Mobley had an all-around impact in his impressive rookie debut. Ricky Rubio, to go with that, provided a big lift with 12 points and 10 assists, and we know he’ll make his presence felt still in plenty of minutes.

But again, a takeaway from this one was that even with there set to be some rough stretches, Garland needs to stay aggression, to drive it home. And as Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff touched on postgame, Cleveland is better off when Garland is assertive, staying the course and eventually, with his shooting capabilities, he can rattle off deep balls. Sexton can to if he has it rolling, which is fairly often the case if he’s showing the willingness from deep, too.

This was more on that involving Garland from Bickerstaff, anyhow, via the Cavaliers.

To reiterate, while I’m not suggesting it’s shown nearly as much as Year 1, it’s still evident that Garland can at times pass up seemingly in-rhythm deep balls, or passive on-ball or unsure of himself as a passer.

But even with him going just 3-of-10 from three on Wednesday, he did hit three big ones out of five attempts in the fourth, when the Cavs were able to cut it to just a one-point lead for Memphis with 1:53 left.

So, as we’ve touched on and Bickerstaff emphasized, Garland in his third season has to keep firing for this team and be assertive, to help take the pressure off of Sexton and others. He’ll make his presence felt as a playmaker for others, as we know, which includes generating threes for others; he just can’t be passive.

That can’t be overstated, given his Garland’s talent level. It’s just apparent that for him and the Cavaliers to take the next step, DG has to be fully comfortable firing triples in bunches game-to-game, to be bought into being 3G for this team. Once again, hopefully the ankle injury, which was a sprain, doesn’t hamper him/linger; I don’t think he’d potentially miss a ton of time, though.