3 reasons Cavs have stumbled and lost two straight games

3 reasons Cavs have stumbled: Darius Garland is struggling

Last season Darius Garland broke out in a major way, making his first All-Star game and averaging 21.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. More impressively, despite operating as the primary focus of opposing defenses, he shot 38.3 percent from deep, 51.2 percent from 2-point range and a sharp 89.2 percent from the free-throw line; his true shooting percentage of 57.6 percent was incredible given his role and youth.

This season it just hasn’t been the same. Even with Donovan Mitchell drawing defensive attention, Garland has struggled to find his groove. He is averaging only 16.4 points per game, lower than not just last season but two years ago as well. He is hitting 32.4 percent of his 3-pointers, 42.1 percent on 2-points and 81 percent from the line, all career lows. Defensively he has been a sieve, and he is both turning the ball over and fouling at career-high rates.

As such, when Garland is on the court the Cavs are being outscored by 2.5 points per 100 possessions according to Cleaning the Glass. For a team to be leading the NBA in net rating and have a starter in the negatives is a big red flag.

Those struggles were the most stark in the two recent losses. Garland was 8-for-17 on Monday but committed five turnovers and was a mess in crunch time. Then on Wednesday he was just 1-for-9 from the field with another four turnovers and only six total points.

How to fix it: The solution here might just be a little bit of time. There is no precedent for Garland to shoot this poorly, and it’s possible his eye may be bothering his shot a bit, on top of the minor injuries and sickness he has been dealing with. His usage is only down a tick from last year, so there isn’t a huge overhaul that needs to happen to get him more touches, but perhaps some sets designed for him vs Mitchell could help too.