2 studs and 1 dud for the Cavs from Saturday’s win over the Thunder

Cavs dud: Darius Garland and his turnovers

It’s always tough when your point guard turns the ball over a lot, and that has been exactly what Darius Garland has done the past couple of games. In the last two games alone he’s had 12 turnovers, six each night. It really hurt the Cavaliers in their loss on Friday night, but luckily didn’t bite them last night.

It’s no secret that Garland struggles at times without Donovan Mitchell. When he feels like he’s the only playmaker with the ball in his hands on the court, things tend to go wrong. Usually, the Cavaliers can handle his turnovers, but when he’s only putting up 13 points and 8 assists in spite of the turnovers, its a tough look.

Overall, when Donovan Mitchell is on the court the Cavaliers have looked great this year. When he’s nursing an injury, or resting you just never know what you’re going to get from Darius Garland and company.

Mitchell has missed the last two games, and Garland had 12 combined turnovers. The previous three, all in which Mitchell played, he had only six combined turnovers. I don’t know about you, but it seems pretty important that they get Mitchell back on the court, sooner rather than later.

Cleveland has a couple of tough games before they can enjoy the season’s festivities. They will head out west to take on the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. The Spurs are in second-to-last place in the Western Conference, ahead of only the Rockets. But, the Cavaliers have to handle business.

After taking on the Spurs, Cleveland will stay around that area to take on Luke Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. After that they will have a six game homestand through Dec. 26 that includes games versus Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton and the Utah Jazz, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

It’s still very early in the season, with a lot of it left to go, but so far so good for the Cavaliers. Sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference, they’ve started off well.

However, if the Cavs learned anything from last year, it’s that it doesn’t get any easier from here on out.