Last week, the Cleveland Cavaliers went 2-2, winning against Portland, losing against Milwaukee, winning against Detroit, then losing against Toronto. This week was not the best, but also not the worst the Cavs have had this season. The Cavs averaged 101.5 points per game in the past four games, which is a step down from their season average of 112.9. Their defensive rating is also worse, as it is up to 111.1 this week from a season average of 108.9.
Considering the competition the Cavs played this week it’s not that bad to go .500. Milwaukee and Toronto are both solid teams and the Cavaliers were down some key players in both contests. Kevin Love didn’t play at all last week, and Jarrett Allen played against Portland and 12 minutes against Milwaukee before he got hurt.
That leaves a decision between the two lead guards for the Cleveland Cavaliers Player of the Week Award. Who deserves the hardware this week?
The Cleveland Cavaliers had an up-and-down week. Does anyone deserve the Player of the Week Award? Which guard brings it home?
The stats for Darius Garland this week weren’t as good as his usual performance. Garland shot 40.3% from the field and 29.2% from distance in those four games, with a plus/minus of -1.8 per game. He did average 20.3 points and 8.8 assists in those games, which are solid numbers nonetheless. Also, he only had 2.0 turnovers per game, which is a solid sign, as his assist/turnover ratio was an excellen4 4.4.
Donovan Mitchell was solid this week, as he averaged 25.8 points, 2.8 boards and 1.3 assists per night on 44.7/41.2./91.3 shooting splits. However, he had a plus/minus of -8.8 per game, and his showing against Toronto was very poor. He put up just eight points on 27.3% shooting and was a -21 that game. He only played 25 minutes, as head coach J.B. Bickerstaff saw he wasn’t playing well.
This was a difficult week to pick a standout player from. No one stood out in a remarkable way and every candidate had positives and negatives to weigh. Ultimately the nod goes to Darius Garland. He may have shot only a bit over 40% from the field and under 30% from distance, but he only missed one free throw out of 21 shots, a great 95.2% from the line. As previously mentioned, he had a great assist-to-turnover ratio. Garland has the fourth most assists in the league since November 23rd, behind only Tyrese Haliburton, Marcus Smart and Trae Young.
Garland was an amazing passer this week and was a solid scorer, too. He wasn’t at his most efficient but the rest of his contributions carry him to his second Player of the Week award.
For anyone counting at home that makes one Player of the Week for Cedi Osman, three for Donovan Mitchell, and now two for Darius Garland.