One stud and one dud in Cavs win over OKC on Saturday

Cavs stud: Darius Garland

This game wasn’t perfect for Darius Garland, as, like most of the team, he was sloppy with the ball (he had 8 turnovers), but he still continutes to build a strong resume why he should be in the All-Star Game in Cleveland next month.

For the game, he had another double-double with 23 points and 11 assists, while shooting 1-of-4 from three and 9-of-20 overall from the field. I tend to think you don’t want to put too much into plus-minus from singular games, but for what it’s worth, Garland led the team with a plus-23 mark in that realm.

In clutch time, when the Cavs absolutely needed to make a couple of shots, he was able to do that and put enough distance between them and the Thunder. Again Garland continues to make a very strong case and quite frankly, should be an All-Star.

The Cavaliers just aren’t a competitive, feel-good story anymore; they’re good even with all the injuries they’ve had. Nobody expected the Cavs to be here at this point and Garland’s couple of leaps are one of the big reasons why. He has them as a top 5 seed in the East.

For the season he’s averaging just below 20 points per outing with 19.8 points, and is averaging 8.1 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2  steals, while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 36.4 from three. Since November (36 games), Garland is averaging 20.7 points, 8.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals a game.

Garland hasn’t just taken the next step, he’s taken a couple of steps and continues to get better. On tap of that, winning matters and he’s a crucial reason as to why the Cavaliers are a top 5 seed in the East. All of that should factor into to his first All-Star appearance in Cleveland next month.