Ranking Cavs PG Darius Garland’s 3 best games of 2022-23 season

After Darius Garland made a tremendous leap in the third year of his career, expectations were raised for the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard, especially with the addition of Donovan Mitchell catapulting the Cavs into the thick of the Eastern Conference Race.

Despite the talk of Garland not taking that “next step,” he has elevated his game in other ways. While his points per game are nearly identical to last season, and his assists per game are slightly down, Garland has elevated his three-point shooting from 38 percent last season to 41 percent this season.

Garland has also cut down on turnovers per game, averaging less than three of them per game.

Garland is putting up nearly the same or better numbers in several statistical categories despite his usage rate dropping slightly this season, and keep in mind even with Mitchell taking over some of the primary ball-handling responsibility, Garland is still averaging nearly eight assists per game.

While a lot of attention has been on the Cavaliers newest addition, Mitchell, and the rise of second-year big man Evan Mobley, Garland has been a steady force all season and will be counted on heavily once the playoffs begin.

As for his top three games this season, his best scoring performance came early on in the season.

Garland’s best game this season: Nov. 13 vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves

In the Cavaliers first home game back from their early season West Coast road trip, they quickly fell behind Minnesota by 20 points at the end of the first quarter and trailed by 17 points at the half.

Through the first 24 minutes, Garland was the only Cavaliers player in double figures with 19 points, including four three-pointers.

Cleveland couldn’t cut into Minnestoa’s lead going into the fourth quarter, and it looked as if they were on their way to getting run out of their gym.

That is when Garland decided to put the Cavaliers on his back, and he outscored Minnesota by himself in the final quarter 27-25. Garland’s fourth-quarter performance saw him connect on 8-of-16 shots, including an incredible 6-of-10 from beyond the arc.

While this spectacular scoring performance ultimately came in a loss, it was still a sight to behold and showed everybody that Garland can still be a guy who can step on the floor and go for 50 points on a given night.

Garland’s second-best game this season: Feb. 2 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies

In a game that wound up being a turning point for the Cavaliers, Garland came into this marquee matchup against Memphis with a chip on his shoulder. Before the game, the NBA All-Star reserves were announced, and Garland was not among the players named to the All-Star Game.

Garland came out on a mission in the first quarter, led all players with 14 points, and helped get the Cavaliers the early lead.

The fireworks in this game took place in the third quarter when Mitchell and Grizzlies wing Dillion Brooks got into a scuffle, and both players were ejected. Losing Mitchell was a tough blow for Cleveland, but Garland was up to the task of carrying the Wine and Gold to victory.

Garland had 30 points through three quarters and only had to play four minutes in the final quarter, as Cleveland pulled away from Memphis and won 128-113.

This win propelled the Cavaliers to a seven-game win streak, and Garland also put the league on notice that even though he was not selected for the All-Star Game, he is one of the top guards in the NBA.

Garland’s third-best game this season: Nov. 18 vs. the Charlotte Hornets

Another of Garland’s top performances of the season came back in November, once again at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Garland, who had 28 points in regulation, was the star of the first overtime period, scoring 10 of the Cavaliers 15 points, including hitting two key three-point shots that helped tie the game and eventually send the game to a second overtime.

Cleveland wound up outscoring Charlotte 12-2 in the second overtime period. Garland hit another critical three-point shot to bring his point total on the night to 41, which led all scorers, and Garland also had five steals for the game.

While Cleveland’s leading man is Mitchell, Garland still plays an incredibly vital role on the Cavaliers, as he has shown several times this season and will hopefully show plenty of come playoff time.