Garland is getting other Cavs involved, and Allen makes him more deadly

As it pertains to Darius Garland, there’s naturally going to be some give-and-take for the Cleveland Cavaliers on offense. With Donovan Mitchell in the fold now, it was apparent that it was going to take time for him and Garland to gel as a duo, and the other Cavaliers players with them to mesh, at that.

Inherently, there still are some stretches where the Cavaliers are going to have some stagnation on offense, but the Wine and Gold have started to figure things out more consistently, in finding ways to get quality looks in set offense. Mitchell has been All-World thus far in a career year for him across the board, and that’s huge for his new team, and the Cavaliers are going to be a squad that’s largely driven by their defensive efforts.

That being said, in recent contests, far more often than not, Garland has been doing his part in helping generate great looks for his teammates as the primary playmaker for Cleveland.

He has only connected on 30.0 percent of his three-point attempts in his last seven games, but he’s found ways to get to the free throw line, and as a passer, he’s really made a difference. He’s still had 7.4 assists per outing in that aforementioned span, to only 2.0 turnovers. And while he had a rough game in Cleveland’s loss at the New York Knicks on Sunday, going just five-of-19 from the field, and having three assists to four turnovers, typically, he’s impacted games with his penetration, has found shooters on-time and has made things easier for Evan Mobley.

Additionally, looking at games ahead, it’s crucial for Garland to have Jarrett Allen back, which should aid other guys, and in the same light, make Garland more dangerous.

Garland is getting other Cavs involved, and Allen’s return makes him even more deadly.

Garland has had some off games here of late, as we touched on earlier. The deep balls are always an integral piece to the scoring repertoire for Garland, and him hitting those can open up other areas of his game, so one can only hope for those to come around.

That’s nothing to overreact, too, though, as a matter of weeks ago, he was definitely on a heater from deep as he got more comfortable recovering from his prior eye injury. Either way, we know what DG provides with his constant threat, both on and off the ball as a perimeter shooter. On the season, he’s still shooting a robust 39.7 percent from three-point land on 6.9 attempts per outing as well, and has also started out with a career-high 5.1 free throw attempts per game, and converting 86.5 percent of those.

So, one needn’t worry about the dip in his perimeter efficiency splits of late, as floaters have been meaningful from him, too. And to reiterate, Garland has been helping Cleveland in the playmaking department in a big way still, as he nearly always does.

The looks haven’t gone down as often as they were necessarily earlier on, but Garland’s feeds to shooters, transition hit-ahead plays and his dimes to cutters have been on-point in recent games, and his turnovers have been trimmed down a bit. Allen being back, too, as was exhibited on Tuesday, can make Garland even tougher to account for as well.

The pick-and-roll game between those two of late had been something the Cavs had been missing, to some degree, but that being back, or just Allen’s interior presence, will only amplify Garland’s impact, also. Whether it leads to lob feeds for The Fro, pocket passes, or Allen’s screening leading to good looks for Garland himself or for timely deliveries to shooters, that PnR play is significant for these Cavaliers.

Plus, just generally, Allen’s offensive growth with his post-up abilities and touch, both of which were demonstrated plenty last season, should enable Garland to have a great target on the interior to get things going in set offense. And if doubles come then, or from transition early seals from Allen, Jarrett has shown some improvement at decision-making in those instances, which can allow Cleveland to reset, or for him to hit shooters on the perimeter from there.

Overall, while Garland had been hitting his playmaking stride more of late, even with some off shooting nights, Allen’s return should help him recalibrate, and Jarrett’s presence makes a difference for others, in the same realm.