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2 studs and 1 dud for Cavs in Tuesday’s win over the Pacers

By Justin Brownlow

Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Cavs stud: Lamar Stevens

I would be the first to admit that I really haven’t been a fan of Lamar Stevens throughout the course of the season. With that being said, whenever he’s on the court, good things tend to happen. I don’t really know how to explain it, but take the end of the third quarter for example.

With just over two minutes left in the third quarter, the Pacers’ Jalen Smith hit a three-pointer to put Indiana up 94-86. On the other end, Stevens tips in a rebound off a miss to keep the Cavs within six. The Pacers would then come down to hit another triple, putting them up 97-88 with about a minute-and-a-half to go in the quarter. Stevens then took a bad shot on the ensuing possession and missed.

However, he made up for that with a big block on Chris Duarte’s shot attempt to keep the Cavaliers within single-digits of the Pacers. Finally, Stevens and Garland ran a perfectly executed back door cut and Stevens slammed home the final points of the quarter to cut the Indiana lead to eight (at roughly the 6:00 mark in the above clip).

I could go on to say that he would come out and make the first basket of the fourth quarter, but I think you get the point. Stevens plays incredibly hard and is very athletic. Yes, he’ll make some dumb mistakes, and force some bad shots, but in the end he’s an asset to the team more often than not, as evidenced by his huge block in the closing moments.

The only further proof you should need is that behind Garland, who was a crazy +18 last night, Stevens was the second-highest Cavalier at +12.

Obvious Cavs stud: Darius Garland

Look, I’ll make this one pretty short and sweet because pretty much every game Darius Garland is the best player on the court. Last night he did it all once again. He finished with that career-high 41 points, 13 assists, and five rebounds. It’s about time we start hearing about Garland when talking about the NBA MVP.

If you would have told any NBA analyst, or regular fan for that matter, that the Cavs would be fighting for a top four seed in the Eastern Conference, this late in the year, they would have laughed at you. A lot of it has to do with Garland’s rise as one of the best point guards in the entire NBA.

In my eyes, he seems to have taken his game to another level, following the All-Star break. Not only is he dealing with his own back problems, but he has a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially with Caris LeVert and now Jarrett Allen out. Garland is now leaned on to take and make more shots, as well as be the primary ball-handler.

It can’t be easy, yet he seems to have embraced, and starred in the role already. His confidence is sky-high, considering he was hearing it from Indiana fans all night, yet he was the one blowing kisses in their direction.

Finally, Garland really has the look, skill set, and insane finishing ability as another guy the Cavs drafted in 2011 NBA Draft, Kyrie Irving. Irving is still the king when it comes to finishing around the rim in my book, but some of the buckets Garland put down Tuesday were outright silly. He really could be the most entertaining player in the NBA today.